Santa Claus came early to the Anacortes schools this year, disguised as an anonymous donor from the community, who gave $20,000 to the Anacortes Schools Foundation. The donation is one of the largest received this year.

Half will go to AVID, the Advancement Via Individual Determination program, which prepares prepares under-served students for four-year college eligibility by supporting their academic and motivational needs. AVID targets students in the academic middle who are willing to work hard and have a desire to go to college. These students are capable of completing rigorous course work but are falling short of their academic potential. AVID requires students to take courses which will put them on the college track, utilizing acceleration instead of remediation.

AVID students are hand selected by teachers and counselors based on criteria such as grades, attendance and behavior. The students dedicate themselves to a year of rigorous course work and the AVID elective class where they learn organizational and study skills, work on critical thinking, and ask probing questions.

There is an effort underway to form a volunteer force of interested members of the community to assist with AVID. For more information, call Mike Everett at 293-1200 ext. 273.

The other $10,000 part of the anonymous donation will go to the Early Learning Fund. Originally funded by a Gates grant, Early Learning is evolving into a self-supporting effort to reach children from age 6 months, when they can first hold a book in their hands, up to when they enter kindergarten. The goal is that every child enter school ready to learn. The program has three ongoing areas of concentration:

Childcare and Preschool grants for children in need. The grant will permit these children to attend a quality childcare and preschool program to help promote and encourage their kindergarten readiness skills .
Reach Out and Read is a literacy program where doctors provide books at well child visits for children from 6 months to 5 years of age and encourages parents to read with their child each day.

Family Programs and Professional Development fund supports family events such as preschool math, science and reading events, literacy fairs and other family oriented educational events. This fund will also allow childcare and preschool providers to apply for grants to assist with professional development growth opportunities such as attending conferences and classes.

All donations to these programs, if given through the ASF, are likely to be tax-deductible.