|
Schools Foundation
Students and Staff from 18 Local Schools Celebrate $399,997 in Grants from the Castle Hills Schools Foundation Dallas, TX (May 30, 2008) - Students and representatives from 18 schools gathered at Castle Hills Elementary School on Thursday, May 29, to accept $399,997.90 in grant funds from the Castle Hills Schools Foundation. "We are very appreciative of Castle Hills' support. The grant has given us so many opportunities that otherwise would not be available to us," said Castle Hills Elementary Principal Venita Blake, accepting $174,576.60 on behalf of students and teachers at her school.  The Castle Hills Elementary School Choir sings "thank you" to the Castle Hills Schools Foundation. The Castle Hills Schools Foundation was established to encourage community involvement in local schools and stress the importance of education. Since its formation in 1997, the foundation has provided grants totaling $2,260,967.50 to local schools attended by Castle Hills residents. "The foundation encourages members of the Castle Hills community to become involved in the local schools by having parents work with each school to determine how best to use foundation grant funds," says developer Chris Bright. "It also emphasizes the importance of higher education to the students who live in our community. It is our way of saying we support you in every step of your studies – from elementary school to college or trade school." The virtually unheard of program also offers up to $10,000 in college tuition for each student from the community and distributed $233,000 in college tuition reimbursement in 2007. Children from the Castle Hills choir entertained guests with a special "thank you" song and student Brandon Harrison read a special thank you to the schools foundation for new library books that will be purchased with grant funds.
"We are truly blessed to have the foundation," said first grade teacher Stephanie Alsbrook. "Among many other items, the foundation has provided for two of our first grade teachers to go to a conference. It provided weekly readers this year for our whole grade level.  Parker Bright, Castle Hills Schools Foundation, presents $174,576.60 to Castle Hills Elementary School Principal Venita Blake and students Dylan Sylvester, Molly Pospichal andJulian Haywoods. We all got new overhead math and magnetic manipulatives, and received pre-setup stations for science, language and math. The grant also bought more books for our library." The foundation supports public and private schools attended by Castle Hills students. It also reimburses tuition costs to Castle Hills college students who pass their classes up to $2000 per year, with a maximum of $10,000 per student. The foundation is funded by a one-half of one percent fee on the transfer of all real property in Castle Hills.
Local schools receiving 2007-2008 academic year grants are: | SCHOOL | | GRANT | | All Saints Catholic Elementary | | $2,351.20 | | American Heritage Academy | | $4,702.40 | | Arbor Creek Middle School | | $881.70 | | Carrollton Christian Academy | | $15,576.70 | | Castle Hills Elementary | | $174,576.60 | | Creek Valley Middle School | | $9,110.90 | | Hebron High School | | $71,711.60 | | Jesuit School | | $2,351.20 | | John Paul II High School | | $2,057.30 | | Killian Middle School | | $56,134.90 | | Mary Immaculate Catholic | | $4,996.30 | | Notre Dame School | | $293.90 | | Prestonwood Christian | | $24,687.60 | | Prince of Peace Catholic | | $7,935.30 | | Prince of Peace Christian | | $13,225.50 | | Shelton School | | $2,351.20 | | Trinity Christian Academy | | $6,171.90 | | Ursuline Academy | | $881.70 | | TOTAL: | | $399,997.90 | Media contact info:
Jamie Hawkes, Margulies Communications Group
office: 214-368-0909
jhawkes@prexperts.net |
