San Francisco USD Expands Computer Science Initiatives

San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) has received an additional $6 million in funding from the Salesforce Foundation to expand the district's computer science curriculum and technology resources.

This is the third year of the partnership between San Francisco USD and the Salesforce Foundation, which has now provided the district with nearly $14 million in grants. The district expects the new funding to affect more than 12,500 students through a number of initiatives, which include:

  • Piloting a daily computer science curriculum in the district's middle schools;
  • Expanding the Principal's Innovation Fund by granting $100,000 to 21 SFUSD middle schools;
  • Funding 14 full-time math and technology coaches and teachers in middle schools;
  • Funding five full-time staff members to assist teachers and implement curriculum;
  • Partnering with Common Sense, a national nonprofit organization that offers a digital literacy and citizenship curriculum; and
  • Partnering with Zynga.org to cohost game design workshops and provide students with hands-on technology and computer science education.

According to Richard Carranza, superintendent of SFUSD, the funding will provide students in the district with hands-on resources for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) education, as well as resources "to accelerate our ability to expose all students — pre-kindergarten through 12th grade — to rigorous computer science and coding curriculum."

As part of the partnership, Salesforce will adopt 20 schools through the San Francisco Education Fund and sf.citi's Circle the Schools Initiative, which partners local technology companies with San Francisco public schools. Salesforce employees will volunteer 10,000 hours of their time during the 2015-16 school year. The company provides its employees with six paid days per year for volunteer work.

About the Author

Leila Meyer is a technology writer based in British Columbia. She can be reached at [email protected].

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