Twenty-five years ago, a group of concerned parents, community members and teachers met to talk about how to address the needs of Northampton’s public schools. Like today, the schools faced budget cuts to arts, enrichment, supplies and academic programs that were seen as essential to providing a well-rounded education to all of the city’s public school students.
Sound familiar? From that discussion in 1991, the Northampton Education Foundation (NEF) was created to funnel support into our kindergarten to 12th-grade classrooms. In its first year of operation, NEF provided small grants to teachers to support innovation and enrichment helping teachers to revive our schools and build the well-deserved reputation we have today.
Twenty-five years later, NEF is thriving as an all-volunteer organization dedicated to maintaining our public schools as vibrant and exciting places to learn. In a time of great pressures on our schools from high-stakes testing and funding for charter schools, NEF provides an example of a community stepping up to support and better our public schools.
NEF’s first program, the small grants to teachers, is a lifeline for educators who already spend their own money to augment limited classroom resources. Teachers can apply for up to $3,000 annually to initiate creative new projects, enrich curriculum, or purchase materials to make learning more engaging and expansive for their students.
Last year alone, 26 projects were funded with grants totaling $63,156. NEF small grants helped establish new programs such as the Northamptones a cappella group and the NHS Poetry Slam, both now sustained by the schools. Other grants supported enhanced science education, Nature’s Classroom scholarships, professional development, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) curriculum, NHS Robotics, theater projects, book clubs, family engagement initiatives, and more.
NEF has now awarded more than $500,000 in over 100 small grants in every Northampton public school.
NEF has grown to include other programs as well. The Support Our Schools (SOS) Book Fund provides every school with money to purchase books and digital aids. The Daniel S. Goldstein Fund, named in honor of a Northampton High School alum who died prematurely, underwrites an annual cultural arts event for NHS students. For many of our students, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Fourteen years ago, a new generation of parents, again concerned about cutbacks in Northampton schools, joined forces with NEF to create the Endowment Fund. Thanks to major donors and numerous generous citizens, NEF has a current endowment of over $1.2 million, encompassing the Florence Savings Bank Fund for Public Education, Northampton Area Pediatrics’ Education Fund and the Marie Hershkowitz Memorial Fund.
NEF’s Endowment Fund supports larger projects, some designed for an entire school or students citywide in one grade. The first NEF Endowment grant funded Ryan Road School’s collaboration with the Hitchcock Center to build an outdoor science program that transformed the science curriculum by immersing students in the natural environment surrounding the school.
The NEF Endowment has since awarded over $423,000 for biology and math curriculums, four elementary school gardens, 3-D printer projects, a wellness curriculum to address domestic and relationship violence with Safe Passage, and many more. NEF is now working to substantially increase the size of our endowment since there are many worthwhile projects to fund in our schools.
With all funds combined, NEF contributes well over $100,000 annually to support Northampton public education. It’s safe to say that if you read an article in the Gazette about an exciting project in our schools, NEF likely provided some or all of the funding. Every child who has attended the Northampton public schools over the last 25 years has benefited from and been involved in at least one and probably several NEF-funded programs.
NEF’s growth and very existence have demonstrated how a community can come together to support teachers so that all students in our local public schools receive an excellent and enriching educational experience.
We thank Northampton residents and businesses for valuing the education of our children, whether it’s by being part of the Northampton Adult Spelling Bee, supporting our annual plant sale, or responding to a host of requests for NEF donations. You are the Northampton Education Foundation.
We invite everyone in the community to help us celebrate NEF’s silver anniversary at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the “Re-Prom.” This “adult prom” will include a dance party (with the Mike Hooker Experience and the Northamptones), food and fun at the VFW in Florence. You can go back! Dress to the nines or come as you are. Ticket information and details are available at www.northamptoneducation.org.
Thank you, Northampton, for supporting NEF for the past 25 years and for many years to come!
Stan Schapiro is a former board member and chairman of the Northampton Education Foundation. Megan Zinn is a current board member of NEF.