For 40 years, the Park City Education Foundation has financially supported teachers and students through classroom initiatives.
After an 18-month review, the Park City Education Foundation has cut its signature initiatives in half, from eight to four. The foundation supports more than 100 programs each year with nearly $2 million that’s been raised locally.
Vice President of Advancement Jen Billow said the change was about simplifying the message and sharpening the focus
“The first one of those is personalized learning, and that is really meeting students where they are,” Billow explained on KPCW's "Local News Hour" Monday. “And then real-world learning is another big piece of what we fund that was one of our signature initiatives, and that just continues to grow real-world learning. Elevating educators is our third one, and so we've always wanted to support our educators, and then the fourth one is closing the opportunity gap. And that is every child, every chance.”
Billow said many of the programs fall under more than one initiative, allowing the foundation greater flexibility to direct funding where it’s needed most.
“It gives us a lot of flexibility,” she said. “And I think it's much clearer for people to understand what we fund and which in turn, we hope will make it easier for people to understand what they're giving to.”
The initiatives support pre-school and after school programs at all four of the elementary schools, fund elementary art education and provide support for Bright Futures – a program that helps first-generation students earn a college degree. They also include classroom and express grants for teacher-led projects.
