FundraisingFAQs
Dear Linwood Howe Families,
Welcome to the new school year!
We are kicking off this school year with a new website to make parent engagement and donating a little easier. On this website: volunteer information and opportunities, staff wish lists, donation guides and more. Please check it out today: www.
This year’s fundraising plan:
Due to the changes in our school’s budget, there will be TWO fundraisers:
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Raise Craze is coming back Oct 13-28 to fund all of the PTA’s programs and activities: assemblies, field trips, school supplies, and SO much more. Check out our new website to learn more.
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The Fund for Instructional Aides is for our classroom and student-facing aides. It is year-round with a push to set-up monthly giving in smaller amounts to make it easier for every family to give. You are also welcome to give once today and be done with it. Donate now or set up monthly giving here.
Recommended donation:
We have found that many Culver City, LA and Santa Monica schools ask for a recommended yearly donation. Given our school’s reduced budget, Linwood Howe is doing the same. Our fundraising efforts are a big ask of many families in our community, but they will greatly enhance and enrich our children’s educational experiences.
Families are asked to contribute or raise $500 annually per student split across the school's two fundraisers.
Please know that any amount in your budget is appreciated and incredibly helpful toward funding our school's educational support. Every dollar adds up! For families able to provide more generous support, we are grateful if you do so.
You are welcome to split your annual contribution in any way that reflects the priorities and passions of your family. If you would like a recommendation, contribute $250 to each fundraiser.
To Do TODAY: Donate or set up monthly giving here for The Fund for Instructional Aides.
To Do in OCTOBER: Complete Acts of Kindness with your student(s), raise money and donate to PTA’s RAISE CRAZE.
Thank you for being part of the Sea Dragon community. Your investment will benefit all of our students’ academic futures.
Kindly,
Mr. Chabola, the PTA and the Fund for Instructional Aides
Here are current FAQs:
Lin Howe "site-based lead" PowerPoints-
Family Friendly- Family Friendly Site Based Leads
More in depth- -Instructional Site Leads Slideshow
Are donations tax deductible?
- Yes, when you donate online you will receive an emailed receipt with the Tax ID information
- If you donate by check, make it out to CCEF-Lin Howe, drop off the check to the front office. You will receive an emailed receipt.
Would it be more helpful for families to do one time donations or ongoing donations? $500 at once or $50 per month over 10 months?
- For this fundraiser we ask for the $500 in one donation. However, if you need to spread out your donation that is acceptable as well.
What will happen if I donate, but not enough other people do to fund more aides and the intervention teacher? Where does my money go?-
- The School Site Council, PTA leadership, in conjunction with the staff leadership team will meet to decide the best way to spend the money with students' needs being the focus of the decision.
- We are looking to fund an instructional aide for each grade level, a site base lead teacher, and a math specialist.
What impact did/does these position have on our school receiving the California Distinguished School award?
- These positions have been instrumental in our being recognized for this award. Being able to identify, monitor, and meet students needs of all ability levels directly resulted in our receiving of this award. " Schools recognized for Closing the Achievement Gap have demonstrated exemplary growth for student groups that have experienced persistent achievement gaps and have also demonstrated strong overall outcomes for all students."
What if we raise a portion of the money, what is funded first? aides or the intervention role?-
- This decision will be made by the School Site Council, PTA leadership, and staff leadership team.
When does the goal of 175k need to be raised to hire the aides + intervention teacher?
- There is no specific date, but once we have the money we have to go through the Human Resources department to post the position, leave the application open for a minimum of 2 weeks, then go over the applications, set up interviews, do reference checks, then process the applicant into the CCUSD system (this takes around one month). It would be best if we raised all the money by June 1st.
What role do classroom aides provide?
- Classroom aides work with small groups or individual students in the area(s) of need of the student. This allows teachers to meet with small groups as well.
If we can't fund more aides, would teachers be open to having parents help more in the classroom?
- Having volunteers in the classrooms are teacher driven decisions. Also, we train our classroom aides in the curriculum/strategies that are being used by the teachers. It's difficult to have volunteers come in when the teacher doesn't have the time to explain/teach the volunteer how to deliver instruction.
Will this change year to year? or will we have a direct ask every year?
- This would be based on the funding from the state and budgeting by our school district. We are hopeful this isn't going to be a yearly ask, however we know that other elementary schools in CCUSD are asking for a lot more per student on a yearly basis than we are.
If we give $500 now, will the next direct ask for $500 be in Spring 2026?
- We will need to meet with parent leaders, PTA, and school leadership team members to see how we will approach fundraising going forward. Over the last several years we have done one major fundraiser (APEX fun run and Raise Craze). Many families have asked to know what the total fundraising ask would be going forward rather than doing a number of small fundraisers that take a lot of volunteers to organize, run, and follow up. We will need to make a decision this summer to figure out the best way to approach our school's needs going forward.
Why can't the City Council fully fund our schools by taxing the massively wealthy corporations based in our city?
- School funding comes from the state and through local property taxes.
We are asking for a donation of $500 per child. We welcome donations in any amount, and we kindly ask you to consider contributing extra to cover all of our families.