The Bishop’s School ECS volunteers visit St. John’s Head Start with books, crafts, and friendship. October 2025.
The Bishop’s School ongoing partnership with ECS continues to bring fruitful connection and blessings to ECS’ littlest learners. Last week, students from The Bishop’s School visited St. John’s Head Start with bags and boxes full of books for Head Start students and their families.
The Bishop’s School students conducted their second annual book drive, collecting books for Head Start from the students and families of The Bishop’s School. This year, they collected 317 books for Head Start.
The book drive initiative was driven by students. Joy, Grace, and Priyanka are three Bishop’s School students who played key roles in bringing this project to life. Joy ran the book drive both years. She helped set everything up, bringing awareness to the event and, after receiving the books, sorting and packing them.
Grace created the idea for the book drive last year. She shared her love of reading and how preschool and elementary school book fairs “inspired my love for reading. So, I decided that we should do something similar here and bring a book drive,” she said. “[Reading is] just a great way to get your imagination going.”
The Bishop’s School students spent with ECS students in their classrooms. October 2025.
When the Bishop’s School students delivered the books, they also spent quality time with the Head Start students, reading their new books and creating bookmarks. This year’s book drive was organized by Priyanka. A past visit to St. John’s Head Start gave her inspiration for change. “About a month ago... we were reading books to the kids, and I saw one little girl who only spoke Spanish... I felt bad because there wasn’t even one Spanish book,” she said. “So, it made me think, ‘oh my gosh, when we have the book drive, I want to be more aware of having at least one Spanish book for the classroom and one Spanish speaker when we go to read to them. So that way, everybody’s included.’”
Kara Crawford, ECS Board of Directors member and an educator at The Bishop’s School helps coordinate volunteer and donation projects between The Bishop’s School and ECS. October 2025.
Donations and partnerships, such as ECS’ collaboration with The Bishop’s School, play an essential role in strengthening the impact of both organizations across the community. It helps ensure that any student – no matter their financial situation or background – is given the same opportunity to learn and grow. Petra Ortega, the St. John’s Site Supervisor stated, “I feel blessed and grateful to be here at St. John's and witness The Bishop’s School generously donate books to our Head Start children. This act of kindness will help foster a love of reading in our children and provide them with valuable resources to support their early literacy development. It truly warms my heart to see our community come together, spend time, and invest in our children's future.”
A huge “thank you” to The Bishop’s School for continuing to offer their generosity and care to ECS Head Start. To learn more about Head Start visit www.ecscalifornia.org/headstart.