Operation School Bell is the signature program of Assistance League. This program helps school-age children in need with support to help them succeed in school. Under the Operation School Bell program umbrella, Assistance League of Los Altos partners with 5 school districts. We develop individualized programs to meet each organization’s needs to create the best foundation for the growth of each child’s education. They are Sunnyvale School District, Hospital School program with Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Palo Alto Unified School District, Reading program with Los Altos School District, Fremont Union High School District, and Mountain View Whisman School District.
Sunnyvale School District
Bishop Elementary School serves approximately 500 students and is a Leader in Me school. The Leader in Me is a whole-school transformation model that improves the performance of all school programs. Our membership provides Leader in Me books for all classrooms, school supplies, PE equipment, and scholarships for the 5th grade week-long off-campus science camp.
Columbia Middle School serves 800 students. At Columbia Middle School, students are guided by three pillars: Strong Instructional Practice, Social-Emotional Learning and Safe School Environment. Our membership provides high-interest books to all classrooms, PE equipment, Community Garden, Spanish library books, book awards/gift cards to students who participate in the Reading Intervention program.
Lakewood Elementary School has 450 students and is a technology-focused school. The school takes a whole-child view in developing students’ social and emotional learning as a foundation for using technology for communication. Our membership provides classroom library books for all classrooms and school libraries, supplies for a Community Garden, iPads for Kindergarten through 2nd grade used by students who need reading intervention, and technology ancillary items for the classrooms and teachers.
San Miguel School has about 400 students. Students at San Miguel have a well-rounded experience that includes Language, Arts, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies but also extends into drama, dance, music, and visual arts. San Miguel is also home to Juntos, Sunnyvale’s Dual Immersion Spanish/English Program, launched in 2015. Our membership provides Spanish books for the school library, books for the classrooms, PE equipment, a healthy snack food pantry with a mini-fridge, and scholarships for the 5th grade week-long off-campus science camp.
Vargas Elementary School has about 478 students and all students are proud to wear uniforms to school. Vargas is a science-focused school in which all learning is viewed through a scientific lens. Our membership provides qualified low-income students with uniforms and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math kits for Kids Learning After School program, books for the classrooms, and school supplies.
Mountain View Whisman School District
Mariano Castro elementary school is one of the 11 schools in the district and is our newest partner. Castro school has about 300 students and is a linguistically and culturally vibrant school, where students and parents of diverse backgrounds are accepted and valued. We work closely with the principal to provide support to students at Castro such as books, student supplies, and headphones for remote learning.
Hospital School Program with Palo Alto Unified School District
Hospital School at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital serves approximately 450 students annually from kindergarten to 12th grades. The school offers a fully accredited academic curriculum including enrichment programs such as art and drama. The goal of the staff is to help every child achieve a successful and smooth transition back to their home school after medical treatment.
The school has seven full-time credentialed teachers, three instructional aids and one administrator. They are all employees of Palo Alto Unified School District.
Our program provides classroom books, library books, school supplies, iPads and teacher supplies.
Los Altos School District
This program serves about 25-50 students in the district who require reading intervention. We provide age-appropriate books to each student to bring home for their home library to encourage reading at home.
We supplied materials to help create Zen Zones.
Fremont Union High School District
Fremont High School located in the city of Sunnyvale, Fremont High School’s student population mirrors the demographics of Sunnyvale, the County of Santa Clara and California. 2023-2024 enrollment is over 2,100 students with more than 40% of the students whose parents do not have a post-secondary education. Since 2021, we have supported two programs at Fremont: AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) and Journalism. AVID is a nationwide high school program with a mission to support underrepresented communities in achieving their post-secondary dreams. Our support of the AVID program includes college application fees, local college field trips and year-end senior celebration. For the Journalism program, we provide funding for the school paper, The Phoenix https://fhsphoenix.org, to print quality issues that reflect the interests of FHS and the wider community.
