FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, April 21, 2014

CONTACT: John Schuster
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
305-995-1126

MIAMI-DADE’S SKYWAY ELEMENTAR, PINELLAS COUNTY’S SANDY LANE ELEMENTARY RECEIVE $50,000 IN TECHNOLOGY, MATERIALS FUNDING FROM LEONORE ANNENBERG SCHOOL FUND FOR CHILDREN

When students at Miami-Dade’s Skyway Elementary and Pinellas County’s Sandy Lane Elementary return to classes in the fall, they will have new technology and stimulating materials to enhance their curriculum. This is thanks to the generosity of the Leonore Annenberg School Fund for Children, which awarded each school a grant of $50,000. The schools were nominated by the Council for Educational Change (CEC), which not only assisted with the writing of the grant but will also serve as the fiscal agent and provide assistance with implementation.

Working with CEC, its partner organization in Florida to identify school candidates, the Leonore Annenberg School Fund for Children awards grants each year to schools which serve student populations where at least 90 percent of the students qualify for the federal government’s free/reduced price lunch program.  The projects also must impact every student in the school and provide immediate value and usefulness.   At Skyway Elementary School, computers and interactive white boards will provide school-wide access to a digital reading and mathematics series, and Sandy Lane will add technology, including interactive white boards and laptops for classrooms as well as books for the media center.

Elementary school grants from the Leonore Annenberg School Fund for Children “provide support to help meet a broad range of children’s learning needs,” explained Dr. Gail Levin, Director of the Leonore Annenberg Funds.  “Those include curricular and other materials for an environmental science program, a new playground and fitness station, an updated media center and art studio, musical instruments for a school orchestra, and technology tools for English language learners.”

In addition, two other schools in Florida were nominated by the Rural School and Community Trust, and awarded grants from the Leonore Annenberg School Fund.  Greenville Elementary in Greenville will use technology to integrate music and the visual arts in the curriculum, and Stewart Street Elementary in Quincy will receive library books and media center upgrades. All four schools in Florida are making their grant-funded purchases now so that the projects will be ready for use on the first day of the 2014 – 2015 school year.

Council for Educational Change
Serving as a Catalyst for Change and a Connector of Resources so that Every Child Can Succeed! Visit www.ChangeEducation.org for more information.

The Leonore Annenberg School Fund for Children is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania.  Leonore Annenberg (1918-2009) served as U.S. Chief of Protocol during the first term of President Ronald Reagan.  Her philanthropic work focused on education, the arts, and civic affairs.  Visit www.leonoreannenbergscholarships.org for more information.

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