The Foundation for Portland Public School’s mission is to raise philanthropic support to enhance educational opportunities for present and future students in Portland’s public schools.
FPPS vision is to strengthen schools through community investment.
FPPS Goals are Educational Enrichment, Classroom Innovation & Community Engagement.
Please see the 2018-2019 Annual Report from the Foundation for Portland Public Schools
Maine Audubon Teacher Grants Program awards nearly $13,000 to Portland Public Schools teachers.
Maine Audubon has completed its third annual Teacher Grants Program cycle through the Foundation for Portland Public Schools (FPPS). Fifteen grant proposals have been awarded totaling $12,845 to teachers in Portland.
Through the Maine Audubon Teacher Grants program, Portland teachers are supported in their efforts to enrich education, innovate in the classroom, and engage with the outdoors by utilizing Maine Audubon education resources. Maine Audubon teacher grants recognize and support teachers’ work to inspire students and improve learning outcomes. This year’s funded projects represent a range of learning opportunities at all grade levels.
Students gain a sense of place by engaging with the outdoor resources that the Maine Audubon campus in Falmouth offers. They learn about native plants, animals and the unique ecosystems that exist in and around Portland. Teachers also gain access to the education programming at Maine Audubon through this grant to allow additional teachers to come to the classroom and access to teaching resources to supplement classroom materials.
This is a great example of how committed the Maine community is to its public schools. Cultivating an understanding of the local environment and appreciation for the ecosystems that surround Portland is critical to helping students develop as whole students and achieving the goal of equity in the Portland Public Schools.
The Foundation for Portland Public Schools (FPPS) has completed its eleventh annual Fall Teacher Grants Program cycle. Ninety-two applications were received, requesting $75,270. Seventy-five grant proposals have been awarded totaling just over $47,000.
This fall, both Fall Equity and Innovation Grants for Teachers and Culture Club Grants* support PPS teachers in their efforts to enrich education, innovate in the classroom, and engage the community. FPPS grant programming recognizes and supports teachers’ work to inspire students and improve learning outcomes.
This year’s funded projects represent a broad range of learning opportunities in all subjects and at all grade levels. They include investments in literacy resources, Wabanaki studies, technology, visiting artists and authors, and of course, access to arts programming with Culture Club partners including Portland Stage, Portland Ovations, the Symphony, and the Museum of Art.
“Again this year, our teachers have responded with enthusiasm to the opportunity to seek funding for innovative projects and real-life activities for their students by submitting requests from the Teacher Grants Program,” said Portland Public Schools Superintendent Xavier Botana. “FPPS continues to work to increase the connection between the district’s priorities and its programming, which makes us stronger and better supports what matters most for teachers and students.”
“This is a great example of how committed the Portland community is to its public schools,” said Mike Bove, Chair of the FPPS Teacher Grants Committee. “We’re really proud to support the energy and innovation of PPS teachers. Investment in these projects is investment in our future.”
To learn more details about the 2019 grants and grants awarded in previous years, go to the FPPS Grants Program page.
*2019 Funding for Culture Club grants depletes remaining restricted funds received to-date by the Foundation in support of PPS access to professional arts programming at Portland Stage, Portland Ovations, Portland Symphony Orchestra, and the Portland Museum of Art.
A gift to Riverton School used for books and promotion of literacy.
The Foundation for Portland Public Schools is pleased to announce that audit, tax and advisory firm KPMG LLP has provided a generous gift to Riverton School that will enable the school to purchase books and school supplies through First Book (https://firstbook.org/) for its students to read over the summer.
According to Riverton School Principal Ann Hanna, “KPMG’s generous gift to Riverton will directly support our summer reading program, and promote the importance of reading at home. We were able to use the gift from KPMG to purchase over 900 high-quality children’s books from First Book for our students. We will be giving the books out at our Annual Family Literacy Night on June 6th. All students will receive the gift of books to start or add to an at- home library. We are so grateful to KPMG for their generous support of our students’ literacy skills. Having books at home to read over the summer will help many of our students to continue developing their reading skills.”
“At KPMG, we believe that childhood literacy is a key factor in preparing children for a lifetime of success. It means a great deal to be able to support literacy efforts here in Portland through our KPMG Family for Literacy program,” states Jane Phelan, Manager, KPMG.
This gift directly aligns with the Achievement goal of the Portland Promise, the Portland Public Schools’ strategic plan.
Since 2012, an anonymous donor has generously funded Culture Club-Portland. Through this seven-year partnership, Portland Public Schools’ students have had access to amazing professional arts programming from Portland Stage, Portland Ovations, Portland Symphony Orchestra and Portland Museum of Art – at no cost. The donor’s funding is sunsetting at the end of the 2018-2019 school year.
FPPS, along with PPS leadership, hopes to continue to engage our students with these partner organizations. As a first step, the Foundation for Portland Public Schools will convene a Task Force of interested parents and educators to assess the costs associated with the continuation and possible options for funding.
While it is unlikely that we will see the same level of funding as we have in the past seven years, It’s possible that a task force will be able to identify creative ways to support Portland students’ access to Portland-based professional arts programming.
The first meeting of the Culture Club task force will be July 10th, 2019 at 4:30 pm at the PPS District Office.
