Quick Facts • More than 28,000 individuals volunteered. • Volunteers logged more than 864,000 hours. • Value of volunteer hours was approximately $17.5 million (based on an hourly rate of $20.25 as established by the Independent Sector).

• Overview
• Activities
• Getting Started
• Resources
• Contact Information

Overview
Currently, about 28,000 volunteers work in a variety of capacities in the San Diego Unified School District. These volunteers include parents, guardians, grandparents, business and community members, the military, K-12 and college students, senior citizens, and others from all economic, social, racial, religious and educational backgrounds within the San Diego community.

SDUSD Administrative Procedure 4595  outlines procedures for school volunteer programs.

Activities
Volunteers can help support education through a wide range of school-related opportunities, including:

• Tutoring
• Mentoring
• Classroom read alouds
• Classroom assistance
• Non-classroom assistance (field trips, media center, etc.)
• Organization involvement (PTA, foundation, School Site Council, etc.)
• Before- and after-school programs
• Serve as a panel member for senior exhibitions.

Volunteer programs include:

OASIS Intergenerational Tutoring
Program matches adult volunteers (age 50 and above) with students in K-4 who need help developing reading and language skills. Volunteers work one-to-one with the child during the school day as a tutor, mentor and friend. No experience is needed! A 10-hour training session is provided. Spend one hour a week with a child at the school of your choice. Share ideas and experiences with other tutors and professionals at tutor support meetings. For more information, call Nancy Hemmings at (619) 725-5597.
>> Visit the OASIS website.

Rolling Readers
Non-profit organization recruits and places volunteers to be weekly readers for disadvantaged children throughout San Diego County. Quarterly "book giveaways" provide each child in the program with a free, quality, hard-bound book. Rolling Readers distributes a newsletter and conducts support meetings for volunteers. To get involved, call (619) 516-4095, extension 17.
>> Visit the Rolling Readers website.

Everyone a Reader Volunteer Tutor Program
Program developed by the San Diego County Office of Education to assist children experiencing difficulty in learning to read. Volunteers receive three hours of training in Reading Recovery strategies and are asked to volunteer one day a week for one hour. Each tutor is matched with four students reading below grade level. The volunteer gives four, one-to-one tutoring sessions (15 minutes each) to students assigned to them. For more information, call (800) 711-READ or visit the Everyone a Reader Volunteer Tutor Program web site.

Getting Started
All schools are asked to designate a school site volunteer coordinator. Training sessions are held each year for volunteer coordinators. These sessions provide participants with valuable information, strategies and resources to help strengthen and support community and parent outreach efforts at school sites.

All volunteer work must be done under the direction of an assigned teacher, site volunteer coordinator, principal or vice principal. Volunteers must comply with the district's volunteer screening requirements. Community members interested in volunteering should:

1. Contact the school and ask to speak with volunteer coordinator. If the site volunteer coordinator is unavailable, contact the district volunteer coordinator at (619) 725-5594.
2. Comply with appropriate volunteer screening requirements.
3. Complete and return a school volunteer application.
4. Read and acknowledge understanding of the Volunteer Code of Conduct (also available in Spanish)
5. Provide results of Tuberculin skin test. TB testing may be done at school sites or through the San Diego Unified School District's Health Services Department. For more information regarding Tuberculosis screening for volunteers, click here .

Related Resources

Training Services

• Volunteer, mentor, tutor and literacy training for schools and business/community partners.
• Volunteer coordinator training.

Materials

• School Volunteer Program Fact Sheet:
  English | Spanish | Cambodian | Lao | Somali Tagalog | Vietnamese
• Volunteer Sign-in Sheet (for school sites)
• Volunteer Code of Conduct
• Volunteer Coordinator Handbook 
• Volunteer Program Screening 
• Request to Conduct Volunteer Screening 
• Volunteer Handbook: English | Spanish
• Megans Law Website

Email Ellen Tiffany at etiffany@sandi.net to request any of the following:

• Volunteer Application
• Mentor Program Coordinators Handbook
• Mentor Handbook Preview

Contact Information

Ellen Tiffany
etiffany@sandi.net
Community Relations Department
(619) 725-5594

The Community Relations Department forwards volunteer inquiries to the appropriate school-site coordinators.