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San Diego Family Donates $5 Million to Monarch School to Help Build New Campus

Monarch School, the San Diego public K-12 school for children impacted by homelessness, received a generous $5 million donation from Nat and Flora Bosa toward the building of the school's new campus. The state-of-the-art school, to be located just south of Petco Park at 1625 Newton Avenue, will be dedicated in the couple's honor as the Monarch School Nat & Flora Bosa Campus.

"An investment in the children of our community is the best investment I could make," said Nat Bosa, local philanthropist and CEO of Bosa Development. "Monarch's students are just like any other children and yet they face challenges most of us cannot even comprehend. They deserve a school facility that can give them the tools they need to succeed. My wife and I are thrilled to be a part of the Monarch School family and to help these children and our community break the cycle of homelessness."

Nat Bosa founded San Diego-based Bosa Development Corporation more than 40 years ago and has delivered tens of thousands of new homes to communities spanning the continent. He is a development industry leader known for forward thinking, integrity and quality, and he and his wife are lifetime philanthropists supporting education and the arts.

With an estimated 15,870 homeless students in San Diego County, according to the San Diego County Office of Education, Monarch's new facility will greatly increase the school's impact in the area.

"We are so thankful for the substantial and generous donation from Nat and Flora," said Erin Spiewak, CEO of Monarch School. "The Bosa family's contribution is an extraordinary gift to the future of Monarch School's students. The entire Board, staff and all of our students couldn't be more thrilled to begin a new chapter in a facility where these children can truly prosper."

Monarch's current campus is only 10,000 square feet and past capacity with 150 students and 45 staff members daily. Each classroom operates two grade levels with services like eye exams and tutoring held in the middle of the hall/lobby. The only outdoor area, a minimal 5,000 square feet, is used as a catch-all for the cafeteria, gym, playground, auditorium, study hall and more.

Monarch School's new Nat & Flora Bosa Campus will allow the school to serve more than 350 students daily and will be home to separate classrooms for each grade level, computer and science labs, a library, literacy and tutoring centers, a health center, a gymnasium and more. The new site also provides ample space for playgrounds, outdoor recreation areas and a student garden.

The donation pushes Monarch closer to completing its Capital Campaign for the massive remodel of a 51,000-square-foot old office space. The project began with a ground breaking in February and the Monarch School Nat & Flora Bosa Campus is expected to be completed in early 2013.

 

 

200 Miles, Two Days and 126 Runners to Benefit Monarch School for San Diego’s Homeless Youth

Apr 18, 2012- Local community members aim to raise money for Monarch School by running 200 miles in the Annual Ragnar Relay So Cal Race. Starting Friday, April 20, and going through Saturday, April 21, participating team members will spend nearly two full days taking turns speeding down the coast as part of the “200 Miles for Monarch” fundraiser. The race starts just south of Los Angeles in Huntington Beach and goes through Anaheim, Carlsbad, Del Mar and La Jolla, finally wrapping up on Coronado Island in San Diego.

Making testing personal limits a team sport, Ragnar is the largest overnight running relay series in the United States. Participating teams consist of 12 people who each run three legs varying in difficulty and distance, from 3 to 8 miles. Or, for elite runners, teams of six people who each run six legs.

 For the So Cal race, participants run across 200 miles of California’s most scenic terrain over two days and one night. Nine teams aim to raise $50,000 for Monarch School, as follows.
· Bluepoint Solutions
· Evolve Physical Therapy
· Hammer Prep
· Monarch School staff
· Oliver McMillan
· Qualcomm
· Sharp Healthcare (two teams)
· And one team nicknamed “When in Doubt Run it Out” made up of various community supporters
*This community team is made up of elite runners with only six team members

 “Monarch School is exceptionally grateful for these runners’ commitment to the school and the dedication they’ve shown our students as they train for this grueling race,” said Erin Spiewak, CEO of Monarch School. “They are role models for Monarch students and their determination and willingness to help others will stay with the children at Monarch forever.”

    

New Campus for School for Homeless

Monarch School’s current campus is so cramped, staff members there once considered turning their bathroom into an office.
By next year, space will no longer be a problem.
Monarch, the one-of-kind school founded in 1988 that focuses on children affected by homelessness, broke ground on its new 50,000-square-foot campus Thursday morning in East Village, a space five times larger than the current West Cedar Street campus. Monarch will be taking over an old warehouse at 1625 Newton Ave. and transforming it into a school that will house at least 350 students, more than double what the current campus holds.
A standing-room-only crowd of more than 300 people that included Mayor Jerry Sanders, mayoral candidate Bonnie Dumanis, county Supervisor Greg Cox and half the San Diego City Council packed the Newton Avenue warehouse Thursday to check out the new grounds and participate in a 45-minute ceremony.
“Our volunteers walked in today and said even if we moved into this space, it would be better,” Ronne Froman, the president of Monarch School’s board of directors, said in reference to the unfinished warehouse. “We’ve been sending away children because we’re at (maximum capacity), and it breaks our heart.”
Monarch is a K-12 school that operates through a unique partnership with the public school system and a nonprofit arm to supplement education with basic needs, such as food, hygiene, kits, clothing, school supplies, transportation and counseling.
The estimated cost of the new school will be $15 million, and the vast majority of the money that has been raised so far has come from private donations.
At Monarch’s current facility, about 155 students and 50 staff members are crammed into 10,000 square feet, Froman said. Classrooms are doubled up with two grade levels each, tutoring is held in the hallway and lobby and a small outdoor area is used as a cafeteria, gym, auditorium and study hall.
Things will be much different at the new facility, where the future multipurpose room alone will be almost as large as the current school.
“All the work that has been done here has been amazing,” Froman said. “To see everybody here in one place coming together and celebrating is truly overwhelming.”