On Thursday, April 19, the MVLA Foundation received a $250,000 grant from Microsoft at the opening ceremony of the new Microsoft store in the Stanford Shopping Center.

Dan’l Lewin, the Corporate Vice President of Microsoft in Silicon Valley, introduced the MVLA foundation to a crowd of over a thousand people, many of whom had been waiting in line overnight to receive free Maroon 5 concert tickets. The first 200 people were given meet and greet passes, and the next 800 were given free general admission tickets. The concert is at 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 21.

Three other education organizations also received technology grants. The executive director from each organization as well as Carlos Ramos, Secretary for the State of California’s Technology Agency and Palo Alto Mayor Yiaway Yeh, all spoke before the ribbon-cutting.

“This technology grant will benefit the schools and the district,” MVLA Executive Director Laura Roberts said.

The grant is going to be used to to support the district by delivering services to students and teachers, as well as providing them with newer and more efficient desktop applications. This will help support student learning in the computer labs, Tutorial Center, library, and classrooms.

Roberts said this would benefit the approximately 16 percent of students who qualify for free or reduced lunches and likely don’t have as much access to technology at home.

“I think our students are fortunate that the foundation and district make it a priority to ensure that all students have opportunities,” Roberts said.