Author: Edgemont School Foundation

As you may have heard, the New York State budget cuts as a result of the pandemic will impact our schools. Superintendent Kniewel and the School Board have worked tirelessly to respond to these cuts by revising Edgemont’s school budget, which the community will vote on by mail. The details of how to vote and the ballots have been mailed to you directly from the District by USPS. You will receive self-addressed stamped envelopes to allow for you to easily send back your completed ballots by June 9th. We cannot emphasize how important it is to cast your vote for this budget during these unprecedented times to ensure our District maintains its current standard of excellence.

Our school budget was already stretched thin before the pandemic, and with the future holding so many unknowns, the schools will need our support now more than ever. The Edgemont School Foundation (ESF) was established in 1993 to assist in times just like these, when the teachers and administrators need to fund areas that are not covered by taxes or other community organizations. We anticipate this year will create needs unlike ever before, and we are committed to maintaining the success of Edgemont schools. If you are in the position to contribute to help us in our effort, please click ‘donate’ above.

We are very grateful for any assistance you can provide during these challenging times. We will make it through this by supporting one another and will come out of it stronger together. Stay healthy and safe.

Warmly,

Nancy Gordon
Chair, Edgemont School Foundation

Dear Edgemont Families, Alumni, Community and Friends,

We know the school year is winding down and everyone is thinking of their summer plans and summer camps, but the ESF has some exciting news to share that will touch every child in Greenville and Seely.

This spring, the Edgemont Schools Foundation has made a significant grant commitment to Principal Jennifer Allen (Greenville Elementary) and Principle Eve Feuerstein (Seely Place Elementary) to support an initiative to update / renovate one of the core pillars of a great education and what should be the center for student learning — the Library.

ESF can only make these contributions through the enduring support of our entire community – parents, guardians, alumni, friends, teachers, administrators, and residents. We urge you, to uphold ESF’s goal to Ensure and Enhance the Value of an Edgemont Education, to continue your support via a contribution.

 

 

 

Below are details on the project and recognition of the meaningful contribution from Marla’s Fund in support of literacy.

Goals/Benefits Of This Project:

• Expand the ways our Libraries are used, including: classes, author visits, special events, faculty meetings, department and grade level meetings, professional development, community meetings, evening information or parent meetings, summer teacher and staff curricular work and larger-sized after-school clubs.
• Support activities that involve a class, a grade level or multiple grade levels. Our principals are already reimagining the expanded use of the space during school hours in a variety of ways – for example, the Cultural Arts Committee sponsors work with our students led by poets, playwrights, scientists, artists, musicians, environmental educators and actors.
• Facilitate and expand special individual and multi-grade events, like Colonial Fair, the Third Grade Immigration Project and Ancestor’s Luncheon, the Health Fair, the Building-wide Hour of Code, the Wax Museum, and Writers’ Celebrations.
• Open the rooms up for use as makerspaces, helping the schools innovate through additional instructional activities, including whole-grade STEAM, creative hands-on projects, and enhancing the use of current and future technology resources (e.g. the Promethean Board).
• Minimize the need for the schools to cancel physical education classes due to activities and events that require larger meetings space.

Timeline:

ESF has approved the grant. But there’s still time to be a part of this school changing project! Both schools will receive renovations in the next two years 2019-2020. Work on Greenville will commence in the summer of 2019, while Seely Place will kick off in the summer of 2020.

Marla’s Fund:

We are thrilled to be working with Marla’s Fund and Marla Payson Weizner’s family to complete this project. Literacy and access to books and various learning spaces were incredibly important to Marla and something she worked toward daily during her time as a first grade teacher at Greenville. She was an instrumental educator in our school district and her legacy continues. Marla believed in every child’s right to books at their reading level. Through the library projects in both Seely and Greenville, we believe we will keep Marla’s legacy and mission alive for generations to come.

Edgemont School Foundation:

Since its founding in 1993, ESF has supported the efforts of our teachers and administrators to enhance the educational experiences for Edgemont students. While school taxes fund our district’s primary operational costs, they do not pay for all of our schools’ educational initiatives. This is where ESF steps in: We help fund school needs that are not covered by taxes or by other community organizations. In addition to this and other recent grants to support literacy development programs at the Seely Place and Greenville elementary schools, we also provided funding to renovate a classroom and create the E-Lab in the Jr./Sr. High School, which provides students with an innovative and collaborative learning environment.

To help us continue our mission, we need the support from our community. We hope that all those committed to the continued success of Edgemont, our schools, and our students will join us by supporting ESF with a generous donation.

 

 

Dear Edgemont Families, Alumni, Community and Friends,

For over 25 years, the Edgemont School Foundation has supported the efforts of our school district to enhance the educational experiences for our students. Although school taxes fund our district’s primary operational expenditures, they do not pay for all of our schools’ educational needs. This is where ESF fills the gap. We help fund school initiatives that are not covered by taxes or by other organizations.

During the last few years, our grants have primarily focused on teacher enrichment and modernizing classrooms to current approaches in education. For example, the E-Lab in the Junior/Senior High School was redesigned from the 1970’s era style classroom to a project-based, collaborative, flexible and student-centered environment. ESF intends to continue funding the modernization of the district’s educational spaces, including classrooms at an estimated cost of $20,000 per classroom. The new classrooms will provide authentic opportunities for learning, and will support our students’ academic, social and emotional development. We need your help to make this a reality.

Additionally, as part of our continuing commitment to Edgemont, we are focusing on reconnecting our alumni with our community. This past November, we presented our second Edgemont School Foundation Distinguished Alumni Award to Jimmy Pitaro, the president of ESPN, Inc. and a 1987 graduate of the Junior/Senior High School. The event was an entertaining, enlightening and well-attended. To nominate future alumni, please complete the EHS Distinguished Alumni Nomination Form hosted on our website.

We are happy to report that our fundraising efforts to this year’s annual appeal have been quite successful. Thanks to the generosity of our community we are 68% towards our annual fund goal so far. We would like to thank our current donors whose names appear below for already contributing to this year’s fundraising effort. We are very grateful for their generosity, and we hope that everyone will pitch in to help us exceed our ambitious goal of raising at least $130,000 before June 30th. With sincere thanks for your continuing support,

To make a gift please click the button below.

With sincere thanks for your support,   

Adam Friedman    

Nancy Gordon
Co-Chairs, Edgemont School Foundation