McGraw-Hill Education and Wells Fargo Announce Donations to Support San Diego School Art Programs

SAN DIEGO, Aug. 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Students at the San Diego High School of the Arts will have access to world-renowned museums and the school will have additional funding to support art instruction thanks to a donation, which will be made by McGraw-Hill Education and Wells Fargo on Aug. 13, at ABC10's Southern California School Expo. The donation of McGraw-Hill in-kind services will be matched by Wells Fargo with a $5,000 donation, which will be used to support core instruction at the school as well as afterschool programs.

San Diego High School for the Arts is one of six small schools supported by a Gates Foundation High School Renewal Grant. The school's curriculum balances artistic development with rigorous academic coursework to prepare students to attend a college or university with a focus on the arts.

At a time when arts programs have faced budget cuts across the country, McGraw-Hill Education and Wells Fargo are providing these San Diego high school students with an enhanced arts curriculum. McGraw-Hill will provide the school with complimentary access to McGraw-Hill Studio Space: ArtTalk, the company's new all-digital arts curriculum for grades 9-12, which enables students to virtually tour world- renowned art collections as well as museums including the Musee d'Orsay, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Museo del Prado. In addition, students will be able to view lesson content anywhere they have access to the Internet, upload their own art to create a personal digital portfolio, and view their artwork within a Class Wall Virtual Gallery. To underscore the importance of technology as a tool in art classrooms, McGraw-Hill will also donate Flip Video™ camcorders and McGraw-Hill Companion Touch PCs to the school.

"At McGraw-Hill, we firmly believe in the importance of a well-rounded, comprehensive education, and a critical piece of that is access to the arts," said Stan Paz, vice president of McGraw-Hill Education's National Urban Markets initiative. "Our goal is to help provide the best educational opportunities for students across the country, and we're proud to partner with Wells Fargo to support San Diego High School of the Arts."

Wells Fargo's $5,000 donation will provide the students at San Diego High School of the Arts with much needed school supplies and support for after school programs. In addition to the donation, Wells Fargo will also be collecting school supplies from the community that will be donated to schools throughout San Diego County at the Southern California School Expo. Last year, the community-minded bank donated more than $4.4 million through 685 grants to local schools and nonprofits throughout Southern California.  To ensure that today's youth are receiving the support they need to become our future leaders, Wells Fargo contributes nearly $2 million each year to Southern California public schools and education programs.

"Wells Fargo is proud to partner with McGraw-Hill to support the San Diego High School for the Arts and the Southern California School Expo," said Brian Lee, Wells Fargo's North San Diego regional president. "Wells Fargo is committed to supporting our local communities and education has always been a top priority.  The community can also get involved to support local schools by donating school supplies at the Southern California School Expo this weekend."

Presented by ABC10 and Azteca America San Diego, the Southern California School Expo, taking place on Saturday and Sunday, August 13th and 14th from 1:00-7:00 pm at Westfield UTC in La Jolla, provides information on education and curriculum for San Diego families.  For more information, visit http://www.10news.com/SchoolExpo/index.html.

About McGraw-Hill School Education
McGraw-Hill School Education, a unit of McGraw-Hill Education, is a leading global innovator in the development of 21st century teaching and learning solutions for K-12 education markets, offering traditional and digital instructional, assessment, and reference content and tools for teachers and students. McGraw-Hill School Education addresses critical areas in primary and secondary education through Learning Solutions Centers focused on improving student learning outcomes and promoting digital innovation in literacy, STEM, college and career readiness, and intervention and special needs education. All of McGraw-Hill's content for elementary schools and secondary schools is available in digital form. McGraw-Hill Education, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), has offices in 33 countries and publishes in more than 65 languages. Additional information is available at http://www.mheducation.com.

About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a nationwide, diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.3 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 9,000 stores, 12,000 ATMs, the Internet (wellsfargo.com and wachovia.com), and other distribution channels across North America and internationally. With approximately 275,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in America.  Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 23 on Fortune's 2011 rankings of America's largest corporations. Wells Fargo's vision is to satisfy all our customers' financial needs and help them succeed financially.  

SOURCE McGraw-Hill Education