The world has changed inexorably in the first quarter of 2020. In this uncertain time, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced everyone working in education to reinvent education itself. At schools, this looks like teachers and administrators figuring out how to provide extended education for all of their students. Within human services, this looks like trying to get rental assistance, food, and unemployment benefits to families in their time of great need. For out of school time providers like SPIN, this looks like delivering online classes, lending out technology to families in need, and reinventing the future of our programs to support the current and future needs of the families we serve.

We have thousands of brilliant children experiencing summer slide before the school year is even over - not through any fault of their teachers or their families, but due to the systemic inequities that have resulted in income and racial disparities, laid even more bare by this crisis. SPIN is working around the clock to retool our programs to respond to community needs, while at the same time anticipating how we can support our families and educators when we are able to reconvene. We are anticipating a huge need for our STEM+Arts programs in the summer, and are working on ways to expand the academic portions of our classes to support areas where educators anticipate needing support.

If you are able, please consider supporting our work with a critical financial donation at this time.

If you are a caregiver, here are some resources we've found. We will continue to update this page as the situation progresses.

If you are an out of school time provider, a teacher or a school administrator, please contact us and let us know what you are doing to support families and learning and let's work together in this defining moment.

In health,
The SPIN Team

Check out this video highlighting the amazing work of our girls, mentors and staff over the first year of SPIN Girls. If you know a young lady interested in STEM or want to be the mentor you with you had, register for our 2019 cohort!

Happy Holidays, everyone! We here at SPIN are taking some well deserved time off until January 2nd. But we did want to share a big shout out and thank you to Echodyne, a STEAM powered company in Kirkland that adopted SPIN Girls for their holiday giving tree. Together, the team at Echodyne raised more than $300 for SPIN Girls - a contribution that will ensure that the girls will be able to use the highest quality materials over the course of their program. THANK YOU Echodyne!

SPIN paved many new STEM Paths over the summer - working with families across our region to strengthen minds and strengthen bodies. Before the holidays set in, we wanted to reflect on the work we did over the summer and the families we served.

SMARTi Summer Math Boost students and their fearless leader, Shana

John Muir Elementary School: At John Muir, SPIN partnered with Seattle Public Schools’ Summer Staircase. In the morning, 120 students from across SE Seattle worked on improving their math and reading skills. In the afternoon, SPIN came in and provided 6 fun classes that each student got to cycle through - Robotics, Video Game Design, and 3D Printing on the STEM side, and 3 movement classes that kept bodies moving. We got great feedback from the school about how well run this program was - and it was our very first time offering classes at this scale! Thanks JMES team.

Dunlap Summer Math Boost: At Dunlap, we worked with school staff to develop a four week, 6 hour/day summer math boost, including working on math skills, doing experiential math movement activities, and learning through project-based STEM classes. Over 90% of our students improved their math skills over the course of our program.

Washington Middle and Mercer Middle Schools: At Washington and Mercer, we taught girl-focused video game design classes, in preparation for the launch of SPIN Girls in the Fall of 2018.