Enhancing the quality of Education
in Our Public Schools
Strengthen & enrich the curriculum
with innovative programs
Support additional faculty
training and resources

Money Granted to Date $2.2 M

Number of Projects 345

Celebrating Over  Years

Dedicated to Excellence in Education

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Our Mission

The Foundation seeks to enhance the quality of public education in Pelham with the help of parents, students, educators, alumni, businesses and foundations. We fund programs that are beyond the financial scope of the ever shrinking budget. We fund educational programs that are outside the annual school budget and award grants for projects that:

• Strengthen and enrich curriculum
• Develop and promote innovative programs.
• Support additional faculty training and resources.
• Fund the purchase of equipment.
• Provide funding for special school facilities and equipment.

Our Focus

We are a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing the high quality of education provided by the Pelham school district.

As in other high quality school districts, tax dollars alone are not plentiful enough to sustain the high quality educational experience that the Pelham community demands and that our students deserve. With increasing budgetary pressure on our school district, our community, via the Pelham Education Foundation, steps in to fund the creative and meaningful programs we could not otherwise afford.

History

The Pelham Education Foundation, Inc. was founded in 1995 as a not-for-profit and tax-exempt charitable foundation to receive tax-deductible contributions from individual donors, corporate gifts and grants from public and private foundations.  Since inception we have made grants in excess of $2.2 million as detailed in Foundation Grants.

Our Process

We identify several major projects each year from which one or two Major Project Grants are awarded, often with input from the administration and teaching staff most directly involved with the particular proposal. Each Major Project must be approved by the Board of Education.

Teachers and administrative staff may apply for a grant from the Foundation. Grants are awarded on a rolling basis, upon receipt. All grants must first be reviewed by the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum.

The PEF board will review and vote on grants that have been vetted by our Project Development committee at the next monthly board meeting. The PEF meets monthly from September- May.

Mini Grants are awarded to support initiatives with a cost of $1001- $5000.

A Micro Grant are awarded to support initiatives with a maximum cost of $1000. The project development committee is empowered to decline or support micro grants without tallying a vote from the remaining members of the PEF board.

The Foundation, through the work of its fund raising subcommittee, conducts a number of activities throughout the year to generate contributions from the Pelham community. An annual appeal letter is mailed to the community prior to the calendar year-end and a major fund-raising event is conducted each spring. Contributions may be made directly on this site at  Donate Online Now.



Foundation Grants

Since inception in 1995, the Foundation has awarded over $2.2 million in grants to provide critical support for the educational needs of Pelham’s students.  Our recent focus on 21st century teaching tools and techniques has fostered the development of life skills for our fast-paced, global environment and supported a dynamic, project-based curriculum that utilizes technology and multi-media. A sampling of the numerous resources provided over the years include:

    Technology

  • Collaborative effort with the district to provide 21st Century classroom tools for every classroom—Chromebooks, SMART Boards, document cameras and laptops
  • iPads and netbooks
  • e-reader devices
  • Naviance college and career planning tool
  • classroom polling technology-SMART clickers

    Specialized Facilities

  • Science Research Lab
  • Multi-media Foreign Language Lab
  • Broadcast Production Studio
  • Fitness Center
  • Traverse climbing walls

    Core Curriculum

  • 2,700+ specialized elementary reading books
  • Shakespeare Festival
  • Science Olympiad and Robotics teams
  • Differentiated math instructional tools
  • Living history events
  • Global summit simulation
  • Staff development and training for Teachers

    The Arts

  • Friends of the Performing Arts Designated Fund
  • Artist Residencies
  • Young Playwrights Festival
  • Traveling Art Exhibits
  • Orchestral Sheet Music
  • Art classroom galleries and design space
  • Band and Orchestra instruments
LISTING OF MAJOR GRANTS AWARDED
  
LISTING OF MINI & MICRO GRANTS AWARDED
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For Educators

Mini & Micro Grants Programs

The Pelham Education Foundation is pleased to offer to teachers and administrators the opportunity to apply for mini grants (for any amount up to $5,000) or micro grants (for any amount up to $1,000) to support educational projects that are outside the annual school budget.

The goal of our mini and micro grant programs is to foster and reward faculty initiative by funding creative and innovative projects that enrich the standard curriculum and directly enhance educational opportunities for a significant number of students.

The Mini Grants Program

The Foundation will award mini grants (up to $5,000) on a rolling basis from September-May.

Mini Grant Application

Grant Criteria

The directors of the Foundation would like to provide you with as much guidance as possible so that your application will have the best chance to be successful. Please see link below

Download Grant Criteria

Examples of Approved Grants

Some examples of approved grants in previous cycles.

Examples of Successful Grants

The Micro Grants Program

The foundation will award micro grants (up to $1,000) on a rolling basis from September-May.

Micro Grant Application