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.
Today is a day you might not be as familiar with – a day focused not on getting deals for your friends and family (and yourself), but to use your money for good.