The Unionville-Chadds Ford Education Foundation has been bridging financial gaps in the school district since 1995 and the district loves the efforts.
Tim Hoffman, the principal at Charles F. Patton Middle School for four years, called the foundation fantastic.
“It’s another community partnership,” Hoffman said. “We have our PTOs, which are very helpful providing things for our teachers, but there are other projects…that can have high price tags.”
He said one of those projects was a Redcat audio amplification system for classrooms. The foundation provided a grant for four of the systems at the middle school. He said Redcat systems create an even sound throughout the classroom so that everyone can hear the teacher and everyone can hear the students when they read aloud.
“It’s quite a donation,” Hoffman added.
Shawn Dutkiewicz, now in his second year as principal at Chadds Ford Elementary School, agreed with Hoffman.
“The foundation is unlike anything. I’ve never heard of an organization within a school district that supports us in such a way. We just received two grants last week that will help do a great deal for our kids,” he said during Saturday night’s silent auction at The Gables on Route 1.
There was a $3,800 grant for the schools Maker Space, where students can explore projects they’re curious about, from crafts to high technology, and a $1,500 grant for a fifth-grade collaboration project, Dutkiewicz said.
Superintendent John Sanville said the administration and the school board appreciate the foundation’s efforts to support ideas the teachers have.
“It’s money that goes directly to helping the kids. I give the foundation and its leadership a lot of credit for what they do to help make our student experience better,” Sanville said.
Jen Hall was the auction chairman for the event this year. She said the foundation fills some of the gaps between what the district budget allows and what the individual school PTOs raise.
Teachers submit grants to the foundation, which vets the requests and then funds whatever it thinks best benefits the school and the community.
The silent auction is the foundation’s major fundraiser. Hall said the group raised $21,000 to $22,000 last year. This year’s goal, with 180 people attending the event, was $25,000.
The foundation has been in existence since 1995 and has raised nearly $280,000 to fund projects in the district.
Among the recent grants, in addition to the classroom audio systems and the Maker Space project, the foundation has also paid for some water bottle refilling stations on existing water fountains at Unionville High School, and some Chromebooks for the elementary schools, Hall said.
(Top photo: Chadds Ford Elementary School Principal Shawn Dutkiewicz, his wife Adriene and Hillandale Elementary School Principal Steve Dissinger attend the Unionville-Chadds Ford Education Foundation silent auction fundraiser Saturday night. Shawn Dutkiewicz said CFES just received more than $5,000 in grants from the foundation.)
About Rich Schwartzman
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
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