The Muirlands Foundation is a non-profit fundraising organization dedicated to enhancing the middle school for our students, staff, and parents. The Foundation is a 501(c)3 run by parent volunteers. The Board collaborates with faculty and staff to best meet the needs of our students.

The Foundation spearheads major fundraising efforts in order to provide financial support for a wide variety campus needs that the District no longer funds. This year the Foundation is pursuing a few different fundraising initiatives designed to make our case more directly and promote a sense of community and commitment among our parents and families.

• The iGive giving campaign is the easiest and most direct way to support Muirlands. A direct solicitation program designed to make the case for the Foundations’ work, the campaign strives to raise as much of our $100,000 fundraising goal during the first few months of the school year. Donations at any of our sponsorship levels are recognized in school publications and postings.

• GAME ON…SHOP ON! The Ultimate Tailgater! This twist on our traditional Holiday Luncheon Boutique is designed to be a fun and lighthearted social gathering for parents. An afternoon/evening event with activities ranging from boutique shopping to a poker tournament will feature dinner & cocktails. Proceeds from the shopping and games, coupled with generous underwriting, will hopefully raise $15,000 for the Foundation while providing a wonderful evening for our parent community.

• Ceramic Tiles ($50) and Logo-Sweatshirts ($30) are sold throughout the year to support our campus beautification efforts.

• Escrip and other shopping reward programs are an easy way to make money for our school. Detailed descriptions of the programs that support Muirlands and how you can participate are detailed elsewhere on the website. We hope to raise upwards of $10,000 from these opportunities this year.

The Muirlands Foundation works in concert with the PTA to ensure our efforts are supporting the students and teachers and current priorities. Therefore, the Foundation updates the parent community on its activities at the monthly PTA meetings. The Foundation Board meets periodically as needed to conduct organizational business. Project committees meet much more frequently when orchestrating an event.

By now, most parents realize that education is no longer free, even in our public schools. The Foundation’s mission is to enhance the educational environment at Muirlands. These days the Foundation is tasked with funding both the necessities (staff salaries and supplies) and extras that the district does not provide. Our public schools face many challenges including shrinking budgets and increasing class sizes.

In recent years funds have been raised for:

• laptop computers;
• classroom technology;
• network technician, nurse and librarian salaries;
• ‘second set’ textbooks for classroom use;
• locker maintenance;
• campus beautification projects;
• field trips and more.

This year (2009/2010) the Foundation is supporting three (3) additional Science classes thereby bringing class sizes down. And late in the summer it became clear that San Diego Unified School District was no longer going to support 2 Vice Principals at our school of nearly 1100 students. The Foundation had adequate reserves to step in and fund 25% of the cost of our two VPs. Those funds combined with other allocations allowed Muirlands to retain both VPs.


We can only do it with your help and financial support. Please consider joining us by attending monthly PTA meetings, reading the bi-weekly eSplash, and volunteering when we ask for you help.