A Message from Principal Steinberger:
“Perhaps your children have shared with you that Roosevelt IB MS has recently enrolled nine students who have relocated here from Afghanistan. Many Students, Staff and Families have reached out about ways to help them. Gift cards to local grocery and retail stores, as well as rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft, are a huge help for these students and their families. Please feel free to check in with me (bsteinberger@sandi.net) or Ms. Cassie Barajas in the RMS Front Office if you would like to help.”
The Friends of Roosevelt Foundation is joining in the effort! We have set up an online Afghan Refugee Families Fund to collect funds to purchase gift cards from retailers to be distributed to the families of our Afghan Students attending Roosevelt IB MS. RooFriends’ goal for this campaign is to collect $5000 by March 31, 2022. Please consider sharing this project with anyone you believe may be interested in contributing to help these refugee families.
Thank You for Your Generosity, RMS Community!
San Diego Unified Welcomes Afghan Students
“After months of adversity, more than 300 Afghan refugee children recently attended class in the United States for the first time, as San Diego Unified and a coalition of community partners welcomed the new students and their families. For these young learners, it wasn’t just the first day of school, but also the first page in a new chapter of their lives – one with many challenges and opportunities still ahead.
Most of the students are from families who are still in the process of resettling to the United States, following the 2021 American withdrawal from Afghanistan that ended the United States’ longest ever military campaign.
“In many cases these families were targeted [by the Taliban] because they were helpful to the American troops,” said Marceline Marques, the operations support officer at San Diego Unified. “They faced a lot of adversity and trauma getting away.”
After evacuating their home country in the face of extreme danger, many of the families endured a months-long journey across the globe, with multiple temporary living arrangements, before arriving in San Diego.
After their arrival, San Diego Unified staff began reaching out to families through the various government agencies involved to quickly provide educational resources, interpretation services, transportation and more. District efforts have been supported by the hundreds of school employees, parents, and community leaders who have committed themselves to welcoming the Afghan families to San Diego. More than two dozen local agencies and charitable organizations have also been working to help families during their time of transition, providing vital assistance with housing, food, clothing, health care, trauma counseling, and much more.”
The Friends of Roosevelt Foundation 