Ainsworth Foundation Preserving academic excellence

The current Portland Public Schools budget has been released. We now know that the Foundation money raised and the PPS budget allocation is not enough to keep our wonderful Art program. To save Art, we must raise an additional $57,000 by June 15, 2011. If you have not donated yet, or can donate more, please do so now.

Please write a check or donate here using Paypal.

Any amount will help us get closer to our goal.

Please click on the link below to read our fall fundraing letter and Financial Update

Letter

Financial Update

Last year proved to be a difficult year for the economy, and the Ainsworth community was not immune to the effects. We are proud to say that despite the difficult environment Ainsworth parents and our community raised over $280,000 and nearly 60% of our parents donated directly or made a purchase at Red Ball. These donations are currently being used to fund five Ainsworth staff members.

We regularly meet with Principal Roby and see first hand her commitment to making this year a success for our children. Her focus remains on the resources of the entire community (Spanish and English), with the goal of maintaining an acceptable balance at all grade levels.

In recent years we have raised the largest amount of any elementary school in our district and maintained many of the positions other schools have lost. We would like to thank everyone who donated their time and money to our Foundation last year. This community is full of generous, dedicated people who continue to make our school a great success.

We are proud of what we have accomplished but our work is not done. It will take participation from every family to continue our success. Please support our Foundation this year. Your tax deductible contribution will directly impact our future.

Nathan Ayotte & Claude Bosworth, Foundation Co-Presidents

The message below was recently received by the Ainsworth Foundation leaders. [You should note that Ainsworth alone accounted for approximately 13% of the 2009 PSF Equity Fund contributions. Of the 32 participating foundations, only 3 schools accounted for 10% or more of PSF Equity fund contributions. The Ainsworth community adds significant value to the greater Portland Public Schools community!]

Good afternoon Local School Foundations:

We want to thank you all again for your hard work and dedication to your school and other schools in PPS. Collectively you raised $2.7 million last year and contributed nearly $760,000 to the 2010/11 PPS Equity Fund — this is a 5% increase over last year. In addition to the nearly $760,000 raised last year we will be adding over $64,000 from Equity funds unspent prior to 2007. This year we are able to distribute $824,000 in Equity Fund dollars. From those funds $580,000* will be used to support PPS School-based Equity Grants. . . . When you have a moment please pass this along to your parent community, we will also have this information available on our website soon.

Please stay tuned for more information on the PPS Community-based Equity Grants. The deadline for those applications is Monday, April 12th. We will be awarding the remaining $244,000 in Equity Funds to those organizations that directly serve schools in PPS. For more information on this grant please visit our website at http://www.thinkschools.org/grant-programs/ .

Finally, if you have a moment please check out the Oregonian article discussing the PPS Equity Fund:
Portland Schools Foundation gives $580000 to local schools
OregonLive.com

* $35,000 has been set aside to support Alternative Schools who serve students within PPS. The following organizations will receive a PPS School-based Equity Award: Albina Youth Opportunity School – $11,000; NAYA Early College Academy – $12,000; Rosemary Anderson School – $12,000.

From the Portland Schools Foundation