Last month, a majority of Jefferson County residents voted against a school funding mill and bond initiative. If passed, this mill and bond increase would have funded new classrooms at Edgewater Elementary and Lumberg Elementary as well as a phased replacement of Jefferson Junior/Senior High School. Schools would have also seen increased funding to educate students and pay teachers and staff. On top of this, enrollment in our three schools is shrinking so each school receives fewer dollars from Jeffco Schools.

How do we support and resource education in Edgewater schools with fewer funds from the state and county?

As we look to our 2017 budget for Edgewater Collective, we are committed to raising more funds and collecting more resources like books for teachers and schools. For the past few years we have been raising funds for Teacher Mini-Grants to fund innovation in the classroom. We also provide a delicious catered breakfast for area teachers and staff as they start the new school year. As financial needs come up we endeavor to support student learning and teacher training in any way we can.

Over the last four years of our work, we have found that it is very important to have an area organization that can raise funds and get the word out to the community about opportunities to donate books or other items to support learning. Teachers and school staff don’t have the time to write grants or speak to funders. Our goal is to multiply the funds that it takes to run our organization and funnel even more funds and resources into the local schools. As we raise resources for schools we are also tracking the effectiveness of these investments on increasing student success through the Jefferson Success Pathway.

Here are three ways you can help us in resource raising to support the schools:

1. Join our email list so you can stay up to date with needs in the schools and how you can contribute
2. Donate to Edgewater Collective and support the important work to resource schools and teachers. This upcoming Tuesday, December 6 is Colorado Gives Day and thanks to an anonymous donor, each gift will be matched up to $5,000!
3. Give of your talents in grant writing or fundraising. We are looking for partners who can help us write grants for schools or help with fundraising. Send us an email and we’ll sit down to talk about how you can be involved.