Organization: NORTHSHORE SCHOOLS FOUNDATION
Mission: We raise funds and build community partnerships to maximize the educational successes for all Northshore students.
Activities: REMOVING BARRIERS - Students deserve the opportunity to achieve academic growth regardless of their abilities, learning style, cultural background or economic circumstances. We fund programs that implement personalized student support and remove barriers to student learning that can otherwise not be funded by public dollars. Programs include backpacks for kids, homeless student services, basic needs aid, school lunch support and the opportunity fund which provides much-needed resources to students who are experiencing economic challenges and life-crises. In 2020 we were very excited to partner with InvestED and provide funds for our secondary students to pay for fees, personal needs, credits and field trips. With this partnership, it was our intention to ensure that all students had access to every opportunity to learn and participate in learning activities regardless of economic circumstances. In response to COVID-19, we extended our regular programs to provide grocery funds for over 600 families in our district. We also activated our Community and district response fund and provided 80 weeks of free child care to district families who were essential workers. We activated our backpacks for kids program and provided school supplies to over 400 students when they began learning at home.
ENHANCE & INSPIRE LEARNING - The Foundation amplifies the district's core curriculum by funding projects that inspire student learning, increase curiosity and more actively engage a student's learning. Our classroom grants prioritize student excitement to learn through real-world experiences. These include learning and attention tools, field trips and hands-on activities that offer students practice in creativity and critical thinking skills, encourage fitness, and celebrate music and the arts. We invest in teachers by funding instructional training and funding assistance for teacher certification. We work with the District to pilot new curriculums which increase student achievement by integrating new and relevant practices to meet the needs of today's student. In 2019-2020 the Foundation invested in our National Board Teacher Certification program, culture building for our NSD new employees, refreshing the district-wide Art Docent program, and world language library. Even with the short classroom year, we provided full or partial funding for 29 classroom grants.
BUILD SKILLS FOR LIFE - A successful student is one who is well-prepared for success beyond graduation. The Foundation invests in initiatives to instill intellectual curiosity and prepare students for post-secondary instruction and career-focused exploration and to help students mature into productive and engaged citizens. The Foundation provides authentic connections between students and the community by collaborating with local business and industry through district-wide career fairs and by recruiting adult volunteer role models to interact with students in a variety of programs including hour of code and career and leadership days. Building character and citizenship skills are part of being successful after high school, so the Foundation also supports the district's CP and Dorothy Johnson awards that honor two students from every school for these traits. Finally, our launch day program roves graduating seniors with skills for life after high school, focusing on etiquette, coping and survival skills, healthy relationships and money management. In response to COVID-19, many of our regularly scheduled activities including career days were intercepted, and only a few schools had the opportunity to participate. Launch day, however, went viral and is the start of our life skills library which teaches life skills to high school students via our youtube channel.
NTEE category: Education
Secondary category: Youth Development