Removing Barriers So Every Child Is Ready To Learn

Engagement & Enrichment

Helping strengthen school communities by supporting engagement activities that connect families to resources and opportunities to support student success.

Examples of past impact:

Family Community Resource Coordinators hosted 136 family engagement nights at their schools
The VPS Multilingual Welcome Center enrolled over 340 students, connecting their families to valuable resources during the process
40 parents met 8 times over the year to perform a SWOT analysis which identified the need for more access to VPS programs, mental health and discipline support for kids.
1695 books were distributed to 1st graders and their families, in multiple languages, to encourage reading at home.

To learn more about the impact we made around enirchment in 2023-24 school year year, click here.

Lunch Buddies Program

Developing self-esteem and life skills through interactions with positive adult role models. Make a difference in the life of a child and become a Lunch Buddy!

Students are more likely to succeed if they have a mentor. It could be a parent, a teacher, a coach — someone special who keeps an eye out for a student in need.

Lunch Buddies make a difference by:

Showing the students that their community cares about them.
Building students’ trust and confidence.
Often improving student attendance.
Helping students learn and improve their self-image.

All VPS elementary schools have the opportunity to participate in the Lunch Buddy program. There are typically more children waiting for a buddy, than there are mentors. There is especially a need for male mentors.

Here’s how the program works:

Students are referred by their teachers, counselors, or school administrators.
Once a parent signs the permission form, students are matched with an adult.
Buddies typically meet on school grounds with their assigned student once a week, for about 45 minutes, for the duration of the school year.
Lunch can be followed by board games, reading, crafts, or just talking.

As a volunteer mentor, you’ll be given the option of the school(s) you would like to support and your day preference for meeting with an assigned student buddy. This is a year-long volunteer commitment. It requires volunteers to be consistent in attendance each week with the same student, working toward the goal of developing life-long skills that model purpose and potential.

For more information, email LunchBuddy@vansd.org or call Carla Feltz at (360) 313-4718.

Ready to sign up? Please visit the Vancouver Public School Volunteer website.

Funding for Other Mentoring Programs

Each school year, working in cooperation with Vancouver Public Schools and the Family Community Resource Centers, the Foundation for VPS provides funding to bring mentoring programs to elementary, middle, and high schools.

Below is a list of some of the partners providing programming:

Police Activities League
Girls Inc.

Other Areas of Impact

Helping students overcome barriers to learning.

When the community comes together, students succeed and thrive. Imagine what is possible when students come to school healthy, happy, and ready to learn! Donations provide food, housing assistance, medical care, transportation, clothing, schools supplies, personal hygiene items, family engagement – and much more.