As one of its final legacy projects, the Foundation Board approved long-term funding to help fifth grade students in the San Bruno Park School District attend the San Mateo County Office of Education’s award-winning Outdoor Education program in March 2026. The Board awarded a $160,000 grant to the San Bruno Education Foundation to support the program in the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 school years and also designated $2 million as Quasi-Endowment specifically for the Outdoor Education program, with annual grants to be awarded for the program from Quasi-Endowment payout beginning in the 2027-2028 school year. 

 

Known for its significant educational and developmental benefits for participating students, the Outdoor Education program is a one-week, overnight camp program run by the San Mateo County Office of Education in cooperation with local schools throughout the county and the San Francisco YMCA Camp Jones Gulch in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Each year, about 200 San Bruno Park School District fifth graders and their teachers participate in the program. 

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Typically, the families of participating students – supplemented by fundraising activities organized by the elementary school PTAs – cover the program fees, which this year cost $550 per student, and the cost of renting buses to transport them to and from the camp location, which can together total nearly $130,000 districtwide. SBCF grant funding will substantially relieve the burden on the PTAs to fundraise and the families to pay out-of-pocket to cover the program expenses, thus ensuring that all SBPSD fifth graders who want to attend the Outdoor Education program are able to do so, regardless of their economic circumstance.

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Read the press release announcing the Foundation's grant funding.