School on Wheels was founded in 1993 by Agnes Stevens, a former nun & retired schoolteacher, who began tutoring homeless kids in a Santa Monica park, encouraging those who were in school to maintain their grades & helping those who were not to reenroll.
Since its founding, School on Wheels, Inc. has served the educational needs of over 50,000 children experiencing homelessness in Southern California. With their mission of enhancing the K-12 educational opportunities for children living in shelters, motels, group foster homes, vehicles, or on the street, they shrink the gaps in their unhoused students’ learning and provide them with the highest quality education possible so they can overcome the statistics that would condemn them to a life of poverty.
With one-on-one tutoring shown to be most effective at changing academic and personal trajectories, their most important program involves mobilizing volunteers to provide focused educational support to children who desperately need it. School on Wheels carefully matches each student with highly screened and trained volunteer tutors who support their students through weekly, one-on-one sessions, either in-person or online, providing a uniquely individualized, whole-person curriculum and learning environment of reinforcement and mentorship.
School on Wheels goes beyond being a simple educational support system: they are a catalyst for transformation, infusing hope, stability, and opportunities into the lives of the most neglected and vulnerable children and youth.
The Carrie Estelle Doheny Foundation is proud to have supported School on Wheels since 2013 and their dedication to supporting the educational needs of children experiencing homelessness.
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