The Detroit Public Schools Foundation encourages students to excel throughout the year with once-in-a-lifetime opportunities inside and outside of the classroom. Support our programs. GIVE NOW!
Purchase an authentic commemorative brick from Cass Technical High School, Finney High School or Chadsey High School for yourself or friends and family.
The Detroit Public Schools on Monday will host a parade along Woodward Avenue downtown to celebrate Detroit Cass Tech’s historic state football championship.
The parade will be followed by a rally and an all-class “tailgate” reunion at the school.
Cass Tech is the first DPS team to win the Michigan Division 1 high school football championship.
Foundation President & CEO, Chacona Johnson, was featured on Street Beat this past Sunday on Channel 50. She discussed the recently announced Morse Code Scholarship Program with Attorney Michael Morse.
Of all the dramatic floats that will travel the route of America’s Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit this year, just one has the distinction of being designed by a middle schooler.
Lesly Nunez submitted the winning entry in the Skillman Foundation’s annual float design contest. Her drawing, “Community Garden,” was reinterpreted into a parade float, complete with giant strawberries, asparagus, sunflowers and a smiling girl in a sunhat (presumably Nunez) at the center.
Nunez says the drawing – and now the float – represent her dream neighborhood.
In the nonprofit sector, the word we hear the most often these days is “collaboration.” That’s for good reason. In challenging economic times, it makes sense for organizations with aligned missions to work together in any way possible. Funders and recipients alike are now charged with creating efficiencies to make the best possible use of donors’ gifts.
In the field of educational foundations, we are using collaboration as a way of identifying best practices from across Michigan and across the country. We know, from the National School Foundation Association, that education is the second most supported segment of philanthropy in the country, behind only religion. So, it is imperative for our Foundation to provide ways that meet donor interest and needs at the schools we are committed to enriching. By participating in that Association, we can stay on top of which approaches are working best elsewhere in the country.
We are also actively involved in the Michigan School Foundation Network. This group is working collaboratively through the Web, conferences and member services to help fellow members lower costs, increase impact and build organizational capacity. Urban, suburban and rural school districts in Michigan face many of the same new realities, so educational foundations are working together to share effective ways to support successful programs for the benefit of Michigan’s future.
We are committed to the highest level of stewardship when we are entrusted with your donations. We believe that collaboration allows us to do better work than we ever could on our own.
As we get closer to the end of the calendar year, it’s time for many of us to reflect on why we do what we do. In this case, I’d like to take the opportunity to answer a question I get from time to time – why do we need educational foundations like the Detroit Public Schools Foundation, separate from the school districts themselves?
Around the country, educational foundations date back to the 1980s. But, even entering 2012, we are still closer to the front end of this trend. While Detroit’s public school funding challenges receive the bulk of the attention in Michigan (and even more than its share of coverage nationally), what we see here is consistent with many national trends. In more communities every year, it becomes apparent that school funding has changed considerably.
Once upon a time, property tax revenues adequately funded most schools. But, now, unless new solutions like foundations emerge, economic factors are putting quality education at risk in many communities. Housing values have plummeted from coast to coast, reducing revenue to schools. Also, with an aging population in Michigan and elsewhere, national studies and election results show that voters are less likely than ever before to approve millage increases to support education.
Educational foundations are helping to add value and preserve successful programs by investing in the future of communities. We are proud to do that in Detroit.
Read more about New Opportunity at the Foundation in our e-newsletter.
I’m very excited to let you know about a positive step in the evolution of our Foundation. Recently, our Board of Directors decided to expand the mission of our Foundation to include support of current Detroit Public Schools schools, existing and future DPS-chartered schools, and DPS schools that will be operated by the State of Michigan’s Educational Achievement Authority (EAA).
This expansion is consistent with our Foundation’s core values and areas of support. Even though the DPS of 2012 will look different than the DPS we have come to know over the years, student needs will remain. We’ll now be able to continue to support programs like Science Fairs, Future City and the All-City High School Band, to name a few, as well as future programs that have yet to be identified.
Importantly, regardless of whether a school is within DPS, is chartered by DPS, or is placed with the EAA, that school will have the Foundation’s support as DPS works to continue to provide quality educational experiences for Detroit students. We will remain flexible in the future, as the DPS continues to change to meet the needs of the City’s students. We believe this is good news and hope that you do also.
If you have any questions about this, please send me an email: cjohnson@detroitpsfoundation.org.
I’m happy to explain anything you would like to know in more detail.
