Google Boosts VA Schools

While no stranger to business partnerships, Fairfax County (VA) Public Schools (FCPS) has befriended one of the biggest, inking a new deal with Google to start this year.
     FCPS, the 12th largest system in the nation with nearly 169,000 students, will get free access to Google Earth Pro, a 3-D mapping application, which normally costs $400 a year for each license. “I think we could see a full-scale implementation by the start of the next school year,” says Anna Bishop, coordinator of the Google Earth education program. “We hope to use this partnership as a launching pad.”
     Educators have long played with the free version of the application, turning standard lessons into multimedia-rich experiences. The pro version allows users to print high-resolution images and even sports a moviemaking module.
     “We’re learning from educators as well,” says Bishop, who looks forward to their feedback on the product.

This symbiosis, where not just schools but donor companies benefit, is key to any such partnership, notes Jay Garant, coordinator of business and community partnerships for FCPS. “[These programs] have to be aligned with a company’s bottom line,” he says. “They have to show a return on investments.” Garant, who has helped oversee up to 350 such collaborative deals, wants to do more.
     Recently FCPS received a grant from credit card company Capital One, which partnered with Heart of America to bring 1,000 new books and an upgraded library to Glen Forest Elementary School through its READesign program in winter 2008.
     Nearly 88 percent of the school’s 820 children are second language learners, says Glen Forest principal Beth Alonas. “The library needs to be the core of our school in order to equal the playing field,” she says. So the makeover, including new furniture and freshly painted murals in the library, coupled with the fact that many of the children did not have books at home, was especially gratifying, says Alonas.
     Each student also received two hard cover volumes to bring home, and those who attended a weekend event received an additional five. “One mom came to me and said her daughter was so thrilled, she made her read the stories over and over again,” says Alonas. “In this time of budget crisis, it was an unbelievable gift.”
     Garant is quick to add that while corporate programs are an extraordinary gift to schools, they do not replace education funding. “We have about a $2.1 billion budget,” he says. “My fear is that people will look at this and say that with a $110,000 grant, we’ve got education covered.”
     Garant also cautions against districts crafting just any kind of partnership. Many schools are considering selling naming rights, which can lead to a slippery slope and “don’t actually pay that much,” he adds.
     But when the deals are right, with both parties gaining, they can work extremely well. “With READesign, we’re teaching the next generation,” says Diana Don, a Capital One spokesperson. “These are our neighbors.”