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Foundations in Education Newsletter - Winter 2021 |
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Foundations in Education, Inc is committed to strengthen and transform the mission of Catholic education in the Diocese of Bridgeport by supporting innovation in academic and extra-curriculum programs, fostering opportunities for the professional development of school leaders in innovation and leadership and providing tuition assistance to families in need. |
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Dear Friends,
It may feel as if this has been the longest winter on record. With this newsletter, we hope to relieve you from winter doldrums by sharing with you news to lift your spirit, warm your heart and elevate your hopes for the renewal of spring and the promise of our Catholic School students!
As a separate 501(c)3, Foundations in Education is committed to strengthen and transform the mission of Catholic education in the Diocese of Bridgeport by supporting innovation in academic and extra-curriculum programs, fostering opportunities for the professional development of school leaders and providing tuition assistance to families in need.
Foundations in Education, with the help of our Board, committees and volunteers, has been busy over the past several months advancing this important mission. Some of our programs include Bishop’s Scholarship Fund, COVID Emergency Tuition Assistance, Innovation and Leadership Grants, Transforming the Paradigm of Catholic Education, Kolbe Cathedral High School’s Pathways Program and an expanded Christopher Ripp Learning Program. This includes a gala committee planning for a Virtual Hybrid Spring Benefit on May 6, 2021 to raise much needed revenue to fund these important initiatives!
With this newsletter, we invite you to see first-hand the impact of your contributions expressed in the faces that mark the real work of Foundations in Education. You can see your impact in the faces of student Leaders of Tomorrow and in the faces of teachers and staff, all of whom received special recognition in this year for their innovation and leadership in response to the demands of teaching through the pandemic. You can see your impact in the faces of the Board, volunteers and staff, all of whom are grateful to you for the lives transformed by your support. In all these faces, I hope you see the light that reflects the kindness you extend through your support.
Thank you to all our teachers who tirelessly work to educate our students and thank you to our donors and friends who continue to support Foundations in Education. Because of you, we can in turn extend our collective reach in strengthening and transforming Catholic education.
Stay safe, be well and we very much look forward to seeing you again, in person, someday soon.
God bless,
Holly Doherty-Lemoine, CFRE, Executive Director
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Spring Benefit - May 6, 2021 |
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This year may look different, but friends and donors of Foundations in Education (FIE) will help celebrate Catholic education on May 6 with a re-imagined Virtual Hybrid Benefit!
We invite sponsors to host small gatherings at their home on May 6, where your guests will enjoy home delivery of a delicious dinner for 10 prepared by Marcia Selden catering, two bottles of premiere wine donated by Paula and Tom McInerney, and a unique New York Giants floral centerpiece. Individuals purchasing individual virtual tickets too are encouraged to participate from home. Gather your friends and family for an event to remember!
Join us online at 6:00 p.m. for our moving and educational program, featuring Bishop Frank Caggiano, honorees Lynn and Frank Mara and Dr. Julia M. McNamara, a student chorus performance, video and live auction! Join together as a community to celebrate Catholic education and participate in the live auction featuring several unique items and our all-important “Raise the Paddle” to support Leaders of Tomorrow and the Bishop’s Scholarship Fund!
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Educators recently awarded Innovation and Leadership Grants |
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Foundations in Education announced the 2021 Innovation and Leadership Grant Awards, totaling $56,684 at our 4th Annual (1st Virtual) Award Reception. In addition to awardees and their principals, attendees included Most Reverend Frank J. Caggiano, Foundations’ Board of Trustees, Grants Committee, and donors.
Each awardee had the opportunity to acknowledge their award and explain their project and vision. After listening to each presentation, Bishop Frank J. Caggiano shared his reflections with awardees:
“The creativity is extraordinary! The fact that this is happening when we are constricted in so many other ways portrays heroic leadership. I am deeply impressed that these challenges have not prevented, but inspired such imagination and creative proposals. This is Catholic education as it has always been imagined!”
Foundations’ Executive Director, Holly Doherty-Lemoine, remarked, “We are happy we can bring so many of these innovative projects to life and provide an initiative that gives teachers something to look forward to in the midst of all the uncertainty of COVID-19. This initiative is an opportunity for us to celebrate teachers, who are among the unsung heroes of this pandemic.”
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ALL Faculty and Staff Recognized for Demonstrating Innovation and Leadership Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic
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"THANK YOU to all those involved with the Innovation and Leadership Grants! I received your generous gift of an Amazon gift card today, along with your lovely note. I want you to know it lifted my heart, made me feel appreciated, and very grateful for your acknowledgement of this difficult year! Thank you for your generosity! May God bless you all abundantly and your mission throughout the next year!"
-Kathy Backus, Religion Teacher at St. Mary School, Ridgefield
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In light of the heroic innovative contributions of faculty and staff, FIE for the first time awarded a total of $82,600 in gift cards to ALL faculty and staff within Diocesan Catholic schools and the Office of the Superintendent. The Foundations' Board took the extraordinary step of recognizing the frontline workers for their demonstration of innovation and leadership amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
FIE’s Executive Director Holly Doherty-Lemoine shared, “In addition to the annual grant program, this year our committee recognized in a special way the innovation and leadership exhibited by all faculty, staff, and administrators of the Diocesan Catholic schools during this tumultuous year of the coronavirus. In appreciation for their personal sacrifices and perseverance in providing students the excellent education which they deserve, whether in person or virtually, we awarded an Amazon gift card to each permanent employee of our Diocesan Catholic schools.”
Collectively, grants for transformative projects and faculty and staff totaled nearly $140,000 this year. Since its inception, FIE has awarded more than $500,000 in grant funding.
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FIE Committee Member Earns International Distinction
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John Grosso, Director of Digital Media of the Diocese of Bridgeport and FIE Marketing & Communication Committee member, has been chosen by the Holy See’s Dicastery for Communications to be part of an international digital media program. John was among sixteen individuals under age thirty-five from a dozen countries across the globe who were chosen to be part of the Vatican project.
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Now Accepting 2021-2022 Applications |
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The mission of the Bishop’s Scholarship Fund is to help families afford a Catholic education at Diocesan elementary schools in Fairfield County. Tuition assistance applications opened February 1, 2021 and are currently underway.
This past year, in response to hardships caused by COVID-19, Foundations in Education extended the application deadline for new families, so as to encourage their consideration of a Catholic education for their children entering grades K-8. In doing so, the fund awarded tuition assistance to 260 NEW students - a record high!
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2020-2021 Bishop's Scholarship Fund Statistics |
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4,116
K-8 students attend Diocesan Catholic elementary schools
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2,254
K-8 students applied
for tuition assistance
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1,276
students awarded
$2,705,053
in tuition assistance
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$6,101,513
overall calculated need
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49%
raised by single parents
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54%
qualify for free/reduced lunch
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$56,199
Average Gross Income
$40,144
Median Gross Income
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39% Hispanic
31% White
17% African American
4% Multiracial
3% Asian
3% Not Reported
2% Other
1% Native American
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Take this one-minute anonymous quiz to test your knowledge of Diocese of Bridgeport Catholic schools and Foundations in Education's mission to help transform lives through education.
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73 Leaders of Tomorrow - A Record High!
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This year, FIE donors sponsored 73 Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) scholars within diocesan elementary schools—a record high! On behalf of our LOT students, and in the words of Mother Teresa, we thank donors for "the love they put in the doing—a lifelong sharing of love with others.” |
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Easy Ways to Support Foundations in Education |
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Make a gift through your Donor Advised Fund. Distributions may be made to Foundations in Education Inc
EIN #47-5130557.
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Include Foundations in Education as your favorite charitable organization when shopping from Amazon Smile. 0.5% of your purchase can be donated, with no fees or extra cost. |
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Click here for a printable version of this Newsletter.
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