How We Make a Difference
$1.6 million in Allocations have Enhanced the Newburyport Public Schools
With the support of our donors, the NEF has donated $1.6 million dollars to the Newburyport Public Schools since it was founded in 2004.
At the Brown and Bresnahan elementary schools, the NEF donated funds for literacy closets, community-based education programs (bus trips), and new computer servers totaling more than $100,000.
At the Molin Upper Elementary and R. A. Nock Middle School, the NEF installed 8 state-of-the-art science labs, premier technology for each classroom, a music lab, and computers amounting to more than $900,000.
At the Newburyport High School, the NEF launched the Virtual High School Program, and donated technology including lap tops for science, a Distance Learning Lab, a photography lab, a portable math lab, and teacher work stations amounting to more than $215,000.
Throughout the district, the NEF has donated funds for partnership grants, the high school technology club, assessment and other updated technology, and the IFS Science Speaker series amounting to more than $163,000. The NEF also facilitated a donation by EBSCO Publishing of $200,000 worth of databases to be used throughout the district.
Why a Private Foundation for Public Education?
Communities across the nation are coming to the realization that they must find alternative funding vehicles to support public education if they wish to remain progressive and competitive. (Funding for public education in Massachusetts is further constrained by the limits imposed by Proposition 2 1/2.)
Most private secondary schools routinely and effectively seek charitable support. While private schools have long understood that tuition is not sufficient to cover all educational costs, public schools are now realizing that tax allotments the public school equivalent of tuition are not sufficient to fund the needs of our public schools. When one takes into account the fact that the per capita student tuition expenditure in the private schools is three to four times greater than the per capita student expenditure in the public schools, the case for bringing philanthropy to the public schools is underscored. Although school leaders will continue to work for additional state funding for our schools, it is unlikely that state aid geared to the "average" school and mandated at the minimum level will ever fund our schools to achieve excellence.
If there is to be equality in America, there must be equality in education. All children should have the opportunity for the same quality of education regardless of income or means. The Newburyport Education Foundation seeks to develop charitable support which will supplement the publicly funded school budget to achieve this equality of opportunity. To donate click here.
How Private Funds Can Benefit Public Education?
A first-class education program might include the following items that are not funded, or not fully funded, in the current budget.
- Enrichment programs at all grade levels that encourage students to achieve to their fullest potential.
- Permanent funding to maintain state-of-the-art school libraries that work with our public library to provide more access to students (and the community) during and after school hours.
- A science program that integrates the full range of instrumentation and technology needed to engage students in the investigation of scientific phenomena.
- Endowments of distance learning offerings to take full advantage of the new distance learning facility.
- Permanent funding to maintain our athletic fields and performing arts venues, such as the classic World War Memorial Stadium, Fuller Field, and our middle school auditorium, that are enjoyed by students. community groups alike.
- Challenging new courses of study, such as broadcasting, marine science, and computer programming and repair, that offer students an opportunity to work toward a career interest.
- Evening and alternative programs that offer choices for students and others who wish to take courses that their current school day schedule cannot accommodate.
- Development funding for tools that support greater collaboration between parents and teachers around children's academic goals.
- Additional time and resources to research, develop, and pilot programs that move our system forward toward excellence.
Your Opportunity to Invest in Public Education
Gifts to the Newburyport Education Fund will help meet the needs of the public schools in the years ahead. There will be opportunities to contribute on many levels, including an annual giving campaign, capital campaign, and planned giving. Income from permanent endowed gift funds can be designated for a particular need or left unrestricted to be invested by The Board of Directors. Naming opportunities also exist to name a room or area in the new high school, such as the high school library, in memory of loved ones or events.
Education requires experiences that can help students to look beyond the years they spend in school to the roles they can play in the future. They are becoming the citizens who will lead, perform, build and create the world ahead of us. We seek, with help from others, to make them the best-educated and most conscientious members of society that we have ever known. The Newburyport Education Foundation offers donors meaningful, lasting opportunities to support excellence in public education in our city. To donate click here. |
