Donor Impact Report 2023
Forging Connections
In 2023, AchieveKids faced challenges and changes but overcame these with the structure and support of our incredible community. AchieveKids staff and service providers served over 135 students from 20 cities and 36 school districts to bring them specialized education, speech, mental health, and occupational therapy structured to fit their needs. With your support we have been able to expand the selection of books in our libraries, acquire new PE equipment to support healthy lifestyles for students of all ability levels, and provide healthy breakfasts and lunches for all our students.
Thank you for your continued support and commitment to AchieveKids.
Forging connections
At AchieveKids, the process of forging connections lies at the heart of our educational approach. Our educators foster an environment where establishing connections is not only a goal but a fundamental aspect of the learning experience. Our dedicated professional staff work closely with students who have diverse and complex learning needs, aiming to develop relationships built on trust and understanding.
Before joining AchieveKids, our students often experienced multiple school placements. Our aim is to transform school into a safe, supportive, and connected environment where students feel comfortable taking the inherent risks involved in learning. The collaborative efforts between educators, students, and families create a community where everyone is valued and respected. These connections serve as the scaffolding supporting both the academic and personal growth of students, as we strive to create greater opportunities in their lives.
The significance of connections extends beyond our classrooms. Community partnerships provide job opportunities for our students, like-minded organizations offer valuable support, and our generous donors ensure that AchieveKids can stay focused on its mission. A wonderful example is the Summer Art Camp that the Pacific Art League hosted at our Palo Alto campus. It was such a fun experience for our students that was all started by a “what if” connection. We are incredibly grateful for the ongoing support of our community. Your connections are crucial to our long-term success, and we eagerly anticipate a year with a renewed focus on forging new connections.
Stephen Crook
Executive Director
Rob Hutchinson
Board Chair
The Heart of AchieveKids
Mission
AchieveKids creates greater opportunity in the lives of students in special education through exceptional schools and collaborative educational services that enable students with special needs to thrive.
Vision
AchieveKids students will achieve the maximum possible self-reliance and quality of life, and look to the future with confidence.
Values
- Treat everyone with respect and dignity
- Meet students where they are and for who they are
- Empower students to get where they need to go
- Engage in our own life-long learning
Learning for Life
- Maximize independence
- Make effective use of leisure time
- Possess academic and technology skills to align with state standards and real-life application
- Advocate and negotiate for needs and wishes in an appropriate manner
- Take responsibility for actions
- Make decisions
- Adapt to changes in environment and schedule
- Continue to try after encountering road blocks
- Apply skills to a wide variety of environments
- Self-regulate frustration and anger through effective problem-solving and coping skills
- Accept and offer feedback in a respectful manner
- Exhibit social awareness through collaboration and cooperation
Our Services
Special Education
Special Education
We offer a range of educational programs from graded core-curriculum to life skills and other functionality-based academics.
Community Integration
Maintenance
We teach students to interact in community environments, from following safety signs, taking public transit and buying groceries, to eating in restaurants.
Speech Therapy
Bike Fixing
We focus on improving communication skills through one-on-one, in the classroom, on the job, and in the community training.
Occupational Therapy
Your Title Goes Here
Occupational Therapy specialists help students with hand-eye coordination, balance, and other skills that assist them in the classroom, community, and their vocation.
Behavioral Health
Repair Tires
We focus on replacing aggressive behaviors with appropriate social skills while increasing self-awareness and self-esteem. We conduct student assessments, develop and implement behavior intervention plans and do comprehensive data collection in all our school programs.
Mental Health
Service name
Mental health professionals work onsite to address mental health issues that may interfere with the student’s classroom behavior and learning. They meet in individual and group therapy sessions as well as provide classroom support and parental support.
Student Career Pathway
Individual Parts Selection
We teach both job skills and work-related social skills to students ages 14 and above. We partner with employers in the community to match students 16 and older with jobs that reflect individual interests.
Transition Services
Your Title Goes Here
To ensure that students acquire the skills necessary for succeeding in their new environments after graduation, AchieveKids staff work with regional centers and school districts to help students make the transition into other programs such as public schools, adult service programs, independent living arrangements and group homes.
forging connections
Between AchieveKids and the Pacific Art League
This year, AchieveKids forged a connection with the Pacific Art League in Palo Alto. The Pacific Art League has been teaching people of all ages and ability levels in the Bay Area since 1921. We were lucky enough to host one of their incredible teachers, Rachel Levine, and their Executive Director, Aly Gould, at our Palo Alto location for a few days in July.
Our staff and the PAL team collaborated and came up with different workshops tailored to our students and their individual needs. This allowed our students the opportunity to learn the basics of creating art and to be encouraged to use art as a form of self-expression and a tool for regulation.
“Creating art is a wonderful multi-sensory modality for our students to be able to regulate themselves so they can be more present and intentional as they move through their daily routines. Whether it be painting, making music, dancing, gardening, or playdough sculpting, art is an invaluable tool for increasing students’ independence and self-efficacy,” said Bailey Coe, one of our Occupational Therapists.
We are so grateful to have forged a connection with the Pacific Art League and thank them for their time and support of our mission.
Financial Statements
July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023
Supporters
Thank you to all of our donors from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023.
We truly appreciate your support!
Sheikh Alam and Sharmin Azam
Eric Alburger
Jeffery Allyn
Raquel Amaya
Rob Anderson
Eric Angel
Anonymous
David and Susan Apfelberg
Marjan Aslani
Linda Attby
Zahuindanda Aventura
Peter and Victoria Bailey
John Balletto
Rodger and Sharon Barkoff
Bill Romans and Sue Barsamian
Sue Barton
Eyal and Revital Baruch
Daniel Beale
Edin Beganovic
Allanah Cleary Beh
Tucker and Amy Beim
Andrea Berberich
Stephen and David Berch-Lima
David Bergeron
Jan Berliner
Roman and Joanna Beyer
Vimal Bhat
Larry and Jan Birenbaum
Brad and Kim Bishop
Ron Bland
Donna Blas
Mark Blattel
Rick and Susie Block
Howard and Diane Bloom
Michelle Bombaca
Neil Bonke
Phil and Lois Bookman
Faith Braff
Bobby and Charlotte Bramlett
Steven Brock and Sally Townsend
Deeann and Michael Bruno
Gina Bruno
James and Antonette Bruno
Stephen and Rita Bryson
Patrick Burg
Les and Nancy Burger
Larry and Ann Byler
Janet Campbell
Darian Campise
Lisa Caputo
George and Paula Chaltas
Michael Charles
Fortune Chen
Nancy Cherniss
Victor L. Chinn
Gail Cho
Neelika Choudhury
Sara Clark
Brooks Cohen
Elay Cohen and Jennifer Pliner
Evan and Sarah Cohen
Finn Cohen
Grace Cohen
Oliver Cohen
Michael and Kim Collins
Kevin Conner and Abby Damm
Terry and Jeannie Conner
Dave and Denise Cote
Janelle Cox
Joseph Mark Crase
Richard and Theresa Crocker
Stephen Crook and Nandini Datta
Steve Crook
Trudie Daggett
Sheba Dalaney
Marion and Peter Danna
Kevin Dare
Sakti Das
Diptish Datta
Gordon and Carolyn Davidson
Jocelyn De Claro
Lisa Decker
Woody DeMayo and Shelley Doran
Mari Dempsey
Mehul Desai
Simona Di Blasi
Richard and Dorothy Dorsay
Matthew Downing
Sarah Drinkwater
Jack and Sheila Dubin
Betty Dvorson
Harry and Dale Eastman
Elaine Ebner
Jesse Ebner
Louis and Carol Ebner
Len Edwards
Ryan Eisenberg and Sindy Christopher
Linda Ellis
Alain and Rosemary Enthoven
S. Osborn Erickson
Daxx Esparza
Katie Ewanich
Luke and Shana Farley
Janie Farn
Nancy Farsad
Venous Farsad
Dena and Paul Fisher
Mike and Marsha Ford
Laurie Frankel
Dennis Frost
Jamie Gaan and Julie Ngov
Gallus Family
Teri and Elaine Gallus
Aurelio Garcia
Patricia Gardner
Tulika Garg
Salit Gazit
Bruce and Jane Gee
Russell and Marie Genna
Michael and Deborah Gennette
William Gerson
Ajay and Kajal Ghai
Fatemeh Ghasemi
Joseph and Beverly Giraudo
David and Catherine Glazer
Jonathan Goldman
David and Mary Goodman
Barbara Gray
Beryl and Herm Greenberg
Mark and Renee Greenstein
Jeff and Susan Greenwald
Karen Griggi
Lynn Groff
Rick and Frosty Gross
Karen and Allen Guggenheim
Sunitha Gupta
Julia Ha
Anthony and Mary Hanley
Hollis Hanover
Christian Hansen
Karl and Marguerite Hansen
Irene Hashfield
Beth Hawley
Steve and Lorraine Heitel
Manuel A. Henriquez
Mathew Hill
Michael and Larri Hirschklau
Tad Hogg and Kathy Kriese
Nasrin Homayouni-Farsad
Jonathan Hsu
Kateline Hullar
William Hurwick
Rob and Christine Hutchinson
Edward Kandy Hutman
Yohann Jacob
Nurit Jacobs
Jane and Len Jacobson
Aneesha Janbandhu
Mary Ann Jankord
Allan and Rebecca Jergesen
James and Margaret Jimenez
Chenyang Jin
Michael Jones
Karl Kadie and Carol Korzow
Jill and Steven Kagel
Daniel and Rosemary Kaplan
Kenneth and Christine Kasik
Jeffrey Katz
Rudi Katz
Jim and Sylvia Katzman
Robert Kavanaugh
Tom and Sharon Kelley
Norman and Kathryn Kitching
John Kinniburgh
Kathie Klarreich
Paul Knudson
Betsy Klarreich Kohn
Demetri and Mary Koutsos
Wanda Kownacki
David and Rochelle Kramer
Bill and Jeanne Kunz
Alan and Carole Kushnir
Chuck Lane
Helen Leong
Stephanie Leong and Russ Lindgren
Wayne and L. Tina Levenfeld
Ken and Gloria Levy
Leland Levy and Judy Huey
Julie Lewis
Mark Lewis and Barbara Shapiro
Susan Lichte and Richard Lichte, M.D.
Frank and Patricia Lima
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James and Judy Lipman
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Tom Lockwood
Colin Lounsberry
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Pero and Anka Margaretic
Daniel Martinez
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Laureston McLellan
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Arin Miller
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Zachary Morrison
John and Heather Mozart
Donald Vance and Mary Mulkins
Manuel Munguia and Bogumila Krupa
Sergio Nacht
M Bruce Nakao and Marilynn Occhipinti
Merrill and Alicia Newman
Thomas and Trang Nguyen
Y Nhu and Tom Nguyen
Mike and Tara O’Boy
Lee and Jayme Olitzky
Jacob Oliver
Jeffrey and Rebecca Olson
Leo and Charlene Ott
Jackie Hing-Pacheco
Chong and Jin Park
Jane Parnes
Simon and Victoria Parrott
Jason Parsons
Kaushik and Smita Patel
David and Rachel Paul
Hiyadeh Payvandi
Jeffery and Gail Pederson
Dianna and Jeff Pieper
Carol Pliner
Nathan Poulos and Jodi Volovick
Harry and Lori Price
Ruben and Ofelia Puno
Bill and Esther Puterbaugh
Chris Quesada and Sara Tevis
Melisa Randall
Gopi Rangan and Iravati Hingne
Fran and Michael Rappaport
Bailey Reed
Judy Reed
Melinda Reed
Steve Reed
Lonnie and Catherine Reichstein
Clifford Reid and Darlene Mann
Marty and Laura Reininger
Paul and Stephanie Riehle
Victor Ringel and Ilene Sokoloff
Dave and Lora Riopel
Mary Ann Roberts
Linda and Ronald Rossen
Barrie Rosenberg
Gerald Rosenberg
Sushma Roy
Mike and Sue Sabes
Kay Sabin
Iqbal Saini
Thomas and Lisa Sarsfield
Sekhar Sarukkai and Rajashree Srirangarajan
Christina Saucedo
Dorothy Saxe
Jack Schneider
Michael Jay Schneider and Isabel Simon Schneider
Arthur and Lyn Schnitzer
Sandip Sen
Nima Shahlapour
Marsha and Nicholas Shain
Joel and Sally Shaps
Ann Sharon
Jane and Kim Sherman
Shelly Siegman
Anna Silva
David and Barbara Silverstein
Paul and Ellen Snider
Tod Spieker
Loren Spina
Dan and Andra Spurr
Jean Spurr and Dorit Grunberger
Jonas and Christine Stafford
Margaret and Peter Stark
Grover and Maryann Steele
Cindy Steffel
Rob Steinberg and Alice Erber
Bonnie Stone
Patricia Storey
Stephen Sullivan
Valdis and Jeanette Svans
Scott Taylor
Shelley and Don Taylor
Cynthia Tevis
Edward and Gail Thompson
Richard Tincher
Jackie Tonkel
Charles and Margaret Tuggle
Michael and Ellen Turbow
Rick and Sandy Van Mell
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Jennifer Vessels
Previn Waas
Gwyn Wachtel
Sherri Wasson
Scott and Katrina Watters
Donald and Robin Wayne
Patricia Weisman
Thomas Werbe
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Sophie and Bernard Weinzimmer
Anne Wilbur
Vilma Wilczynski
Walter Wilson and Karin Klarreich
Christine Wu
Qiong Wu
Yong Xu
Jie Yang
Julie Yee
Elva Zhu
Ron Zraick
Jim and Lisa Zuegel
Susan Zweig
Adobe
Amazon Smile
Anderson Pacific Engineering Construction, Inc.
Bank of America Charitable Gift Fund
Bay Area Discovery Museum
Benevity Community Impact Fund
Bolton & Company
Breathe Together Yoga
Bright Funds Foundation
Canterbury Contractors Inc.
Catholic Community Foundation
Columbian Foundation for People with Intellectual Disabilities, Inc.
Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County
Consolidated Adjusting, Inc.
Dolan Concrete Construction
Donate For Charity
Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund
Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund
Guzik Foundation
Hansen Bridgett LLP
Happy Hollow Park & Zoo
Heritage Bank of Commerce
Herndon Plant Oakley LTD.
Homewood Suites By Hilton – Palo Alto
Hub International
IBM Corporation
IQV Construction and Roofing
J. Lohr Vineyards and Wines
Jewish Silicon Valley
Kicks and Goals
Left Bank Brasserie
Los Altos Hardware Inc.
Maidenherren Fund
Meso Modern Mediterranean
Movement
MPCSD Information Technology Dept.
Mutual of America
Network For Good
Oakland A’s
One Percent For Education
Palo Alto Community Fund
Patrick J. Ruane, Inc.
PayPal Giving Fund
Petrinovich Pugh & Co LLP
Premier Properties
Raymond and Joanna Lin Foundation
Richards Family Charitable Foundation
Rollati Ristorante
San Francisco MOMA
San Jose Giants
Save Mart Companies Giving Tag Program
Schwab Charitable Fund
Script
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Standard Sheet Metal
Sundance The Steakhouse
TB Organizational Development Consulting
Terracommercial, Inc.
The Fish Market
The Shelef Family Trust
The Tech Museum of Innovation
TheatreWorks
Thoits Law
United Way
Verizon Foundation
W. L. Butler
Windy Hill Property Ventures