Due to many changes in leadership in the last 15 years, the students and staff at Murphy School District in Phoenix have seen a lot of changes. Most recently, a consultant was assigned to oversee the district last summer. As part of our fight for kids, Valley of the Sun United Way has partnered with Murphy schools to bring innovation back to the space.

On March 27, we distributed 100 laptops to the district, donated by University of Phoenix, for students to use.

“You know the saying it takes a village to raise a child? Well in this area it really does. It take every one of us. It take the teachers and the staff to work with the parents and communities like United Way to come in an assist us in meeting the needs of the kids and families, it’s really a blessing to all of us.” -Ms. Ortega 1^st Grade Teacher, Kuban Elementary

Other ways United Way is giving back to students and teachers are by:

• Working with other partners to gather donated school supplies for classrooms
• Developing a summer learning kit for students to keep students’ brains active in the summer
• Building a relationship between the school and community partners like Stand for Children and Grand Canyon University to engage parents and bring additional resources to the schools to maximize student success
• Maximizing Murphy School District’s use of the Murphy Education Center by getting community leaders involved

We are also working with Valle del Sol’s Hispanic Leadership Institute (HLI) on multiple opportunities. HLI groups are working with United Way experts to:

• Identify the needs of the school and community through community engagement
• Develop a community asset map of all of the resources within the community
• Coordinate a family event during the month of May for a fun way to connect families to resources before the end of the school year
• Create opportunities for volunteers interested in giving back to the community

Murphy School District is a place for innovation and academic excellence for students, teachers, and the community. We fight to make sure this remains to be the case. If you’d like to join the fight, you can donate teacher supply kits (see instructional flyer here), donate books, or contact Eileana Gudiño at egudino@vsuw.org for more information.

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