Learn To Be Foundation

Entering the second half of the academic year, the Learn To Be Foundation has continued its commitment to underserved schools. Director of Education & Outreach, Bruce Dos Santos, has made it a priority to create new, lasting partnerships with multiple schools in the greater Los Angeles area. Most recently, the Foundation has established a partnership with the UCLA Community School located in Los Angeles.

In addition, due to the overwhelming response of new tutor applications, the Foundation's Certified Tutoring team has grown to a large pool of diverse, talented and willing tutors. Our expansion has not been able to keep up with the interest that has been pouring in from tutors across the country and in order to ensure that we are able to train and provide new tutors with the opportunity to work with deserving students, we need your continued support.

Learn To Be as a whole is proud of the work completed thus far but realizes there is much more to do and it looks forward to tackling these upcoming challenges and making a difference in students' lives. Please stay tuned as Learn To Be works to implement its free online tutoring service in after-school programs over the next several months.

If you are interested in having the Learn To Be Foundation work with your school or organization, please contact Bruce Dos Santos ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ). We look forward to working with you!

Spearheaded by Director of Education and Outreach, Bruce Dos Santos, the Learn To Be Foundation has established a partnership with the UCLA Community School (UCLA-CS). With weekly sessions focusing on topics from science to writing, Learn To Be has dedicated each Thursday to engaging UCLA-CS students in an after-school setting.

The UCLA Community School is an innovative K-12 learning environment linking the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and the Belmont Education Collaborative, a powerful coalition of community-based organizations. As a university-assisted school, the UCLA Learn To Be student organization has taken advantage of an avenue for engagement of UCLA faculty, staff and students.

In an effort to continue working in underserved communities and closing the achievement gap in public school education, the Learn To Be Foundation is proud to work with innovative teachers, administrators and hard-working students from the UCLA Community School.

As a new segment of the Learn To Be blog, we will be featuring a Tutor of the Month to recognize outstanding contributions by our tutors. This month we proudly recognize Joey for her exceptional dedication and commitment to tutoring students in our communities. She has exhibited great patience and creativity in her tutoring sessions, and we are grateful for the hours she has spent volunteering for our organization. Get to know our first Tutor of the Month, Joey!

Where are you from?
I was born in South Florida and have lived here my entire life.

How old are you?
18

What grade are you in?
I am a senior in high school.

What was your favorite subject in school?
I have always really enjoyed History; English is a close second.

What is your favorite book?
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

What is your favorite hobby?
Does tutoring count? I love reading and writing too.

What do you enjoy most about tutoring for Learn To Be?
I like helping others, it is very rewarding to work with those who genuinely appreciate it.

Congratulations again, Joey, and keep up the great work!

The Learn To Be Foundation today released its 2009 Annual Report on the organization's growth and development in the past year. The report emphasizes how the foundation has reached more students and schools, recruited dedicated tutors and volunteers, and pursued funding opportunities to ensure its programs continue to be accessible to all.

Highlights of the report include:

• Learn To Be is piloting at the new UCLA Community School to provide free tutoring services. 

• Since Learn To Be began an ambitious tutor recruitment campaign in September 2009, its tutor roster has significantly grown from 13 original tutors to 78, averaging three to five new applicants daily.

• Tutors are now located in 23 states including: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

• Learn To Be’s website traffic has increased from approximately 50 to 300 unique hits a day after the debut of its national advertisement spot on Hulu.com.
  

To read the full report, please click on the link below:

Download the 2009 Annual Report PDF