Where did the summer go? Here is what the Ed Foundation has been up to lately!

Holy cow! It’s Back to School time already!

Summer is quickly passing and everyone is doing back to school shopping. August is “Pack a Backpack” time for the Phoenixville Community Education Foundation. Each year for the past 10 years, the Ed Foundation has provided backpacks and school supplies for the financially disadvantaged children in the Phoenixville area. We have been able assist over 3200 students so far through the overwhelmingly, generous support of you and the Phoenixville community.

How may I help, you ask?

1. While you’re out shopping, you may purchase extra supplies for the children in need. There are three drop off locations:

  • Phoenixville Federal Bank & Trust at 120 Main Street in Phoenixville
  • Phoenixville Federal Bank & Trust at 533 Kimberton Road in Kimberton
  • Audubon Family Chiropractic at 1032 South Park Avenue in Audubon

2. No time to shop? Make a financial donation through our website by clicking here and let us do the shopping for you!

3. Extra time on your hands? We would love to have your help filling backpacks (August 11, 12, 18, 19) or making deliveries (August 20) to the local schools.  Any questions? Please email our office or call 610-933-5911.

Here is a list of needed supplies: backpacks, spiral notebooks, composition books, loose leaf paper, post-it notes, Ticonderoga #2 pencils, pens (red & blue), dry erase markers, crayons, markers, colored pencils, glue sticks, 5″x8″ pencil boxes, erasers, 2-pocket folders, Fiskar scissors.

The Summer Slide!

Sounds like a good thing, but not when you’re talking to Dr. Mwenyewe Dawan, PASD Program Manager – Academic Programs. Dr. Dawan works very hard to prevent our youngest students from experiencing the “summer slide”, or skills loss, that happens to academically at-risk students when they are not in the classroom.

This summer, over 80 children participated in the Stepping Up Summer Literacy Program, a four-week, tuition-free camp. From 8:30 am until noon, these students worked in small groups with certified teachers to improve their reading and comprehension skills, helping these children enter the next school year performing at or near grade level.

This may not sound like fun to you or me, but especially not to a struggling student! However, during a tour of the program, it became quite apparent by the smiles on the children’s faces and the excitement in their eyes as they told me about the books they were reading, that the Stepping Up program truly made reading fun. And we all know that children love to have fun!

As the the four-week session came to an end, the students were able to select a new, level-appropriate book to take home with them and read with their families. These books were purchased by The Ed Foundation using the funds from our many generous donors! Click Here for more photos of the kids and their books.

The Ed Foundation is also able to provide financial support for this program from grants secured throughout the year. We would like to thank the following grantors for their support of this year’s program: SEI Investments, Phoenixville Community Health Foundation, CCRES Foundation, and The 1675 Foundation.

Thank you to all of you who have helped our at-risk students! Through your support of the above programs these children will be equipped with the tools they need to achieve success in the classroom this school year.

Warmest Regards,

Kelly Connors, Executive Director

Phoenixville Community Education Foundation