The Mission of the Carlsbad Educational Foundation is to support the education of every child in the Carlsbad Unified School District by developing, conducting, and financing innovative and quality programs and projects.
Carlsbad Educational Foundation is a non-profit 501(c) (3) organization founded in 1983 by business and community leaders who recognized the vital need to support education in Carlsbad. Over the past 24 years, the Carlsbad Educational Foundation has contributed over $3,000,000 to the Carlsbad Unified School District in facilities fees and direct grants.
The Foundation's goal is to assist in developing a superior public educational system within the Carlsbad Unified School District (CUSD) by rendering general financial support.
LEGOLAND California is the largest single donor to the Carlsbad Educational Foundation, having contributed over $80,000 from admission tickets on Kids Are Worth A Million™ Day in March 1999. In addition to financial support, LEGOLAND’s Partnership with the Carlsbad Educational Foundation brought an in-kind donation of $28,000 of K-12 science materials to CUSD classrooms. LEGOLAND also built the Kids Are Worth A Million™ tower, a 12 foot thermometer that remains a great visual of the first million dollars and donors to the Kids Are Worth A Million™ program to improve technology in the schools in Carlsbad.
Campaigns. In January 1997, the Foundation launched the Kids Are Worth A Million™ program, a campaign to raise $1,000,000 for technology. As of July 2001, the project had raised over $1,000,000. The campaign reached its goal and the students in the CUSD have benefited. The success of the Kids Are Worth A Million™ program is being used to launch the next campaign to fund: Science, Technology, Arts, and Reading. The Kids Are Worth A Million™ "STAR" campaigns' goal is to provide a broader spectrum of opportunities for students to excel, and to provide teachers with what they need most in the classroom.
The Board of Directors is comprised of business and community leaders, educators, and parents, who serve without compensation.
The foundation has been recognized by the California Consortium of Education Foundations, representing over 250 foundations statewide, with two Apple Awards. The Carlsbad Educational Foundation, through the Kids Are Worth A Million™ program, has gained the support of state and local elected officials, corporations and community leaders.