Woodside High foundation: Donors give record $200,000 Woodside High foundation: Donors give record $200,000 (July 14, 2004)

Friends of Woodside High School appear to have dug into their pockets more deeply than usual during the last school year. Now in its 11th year, the Woodside High School Foundation raised a record $200,000 for books, computers and other educational resources.

The foundation conducts fundraising campaigns several times each year and its executive board meets periodically to allocate money. At its June meeting, the board voted to add $50,000 to the school's endowment fund and spend $106,000 for about 40 projects in the coming school year, said board member Barbara Wood.

Among the projects funded were the purchase of textbooks for African-American studies and algebra; works of fiction for reading classes; computers for science, journalism and video-production classes; projectors; digital cameras; and translation kits for non-English-speaking parents, Ms. Wood said.

Foundation money also paid for a literacy consultant to train all Woodside teachers -- not just English teachers -- in how to teach reading, Ms. Wood said.

With over 1,900 students enrolled, about 70 percent of incoming freshman at Woodside typically read below grade level, Principal Linda Common has said.

Woodside draws students from Redwood City, Portola Valley, Woodside and East Palo Alto. About 24 percent of the students participate in the free or reduced lunch program, 21 percent have parents who did not graduate from high school, and 30 percent do not speak English as their primary language.

For more information on the foundation, call 367-9750, ext. 8687, or go to whsfoundation.org.

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