Community Foundation Joins Community-wide Collaboration of Investment to Muncie Community Schools
The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County, Inc. is pleased to announce support to Muncie Community Schools with an investment of up to $200,000 over the next three years into a new program that will provide funding for teachers through opportunities such as professional development and permanent classroom resources.
This program continues the Foundation’s long history of support to Muncie Community Schools. Through competitive grantmaking, Robert P. Bell Education Grants, designated grantmaking, and scholarships supporting students graduating from Muncie Community Schools, The Community Foundation has made grants totaling more than $2 million to Muncie Community Schools since 1988. Since 2000, more than $50,000 went directly to teachers to provide creative and innovative classroom projects for their students.
Following the landmark decision to give Ball State University control of Muncie Community Schools, The Community Foundation set out to identify a way to expand support for teachers and students to meet needs related to this new partnership. Foundation staff will work closely with Muncie Community Schools’ teachers and administrators and Ball State University to ensure that the program meets the most pressing needs of the students and will have a lasting impact on teachers. Additional details will be available later this year.
“This program is our bold statement to the community that we are not only here to support educators, and their students today, but also into the future,” said Jeffrey R. Lang, chair of the Board of the Directors of The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County. “We value the role of educators in the school system and know that an investment in them will have a direct impact on their students. This program is one way that the Foundation is uniquely positioned to support students, teachers, Muncie Community Schools, and Ball State University.”
In order to commit to the improvement of the transitioning school district and the new partnership with Ball State, the program will be open to teachers at Muncie Community Schools only for its first three years.
“The Community Foundation’s collaboration with us will help MCS thrive,” said Geoffrey S. Mearns, Ball State University President. “The Foundation’s investment will benefit teachers and their students and make an impact in classrooms across the Muncie Community Schools. I am inspired by the institutions that are willing to support this historic endeavor to provide an exceptional educational experience for all the children of Muncie, and I am grateful for the generous philanthropic support from the Community Foundation.”
The new program will begin during the 2018-2019 school year.
The Community Foundation's purpose is to improve the quality of life in Muncie and Delaware County for this generation and generations to come. The Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County, Inc. is a publicly supported philanthropic institution governed by a volunteer board of local citizens. The Foundation manages contributions donated by individuals, businesses, and corporations as a permanent community endowment. Distributions from these funds are given back to the community in the form of grants to nonprofit organizations and agencies. To date, more than $47 million has been awarded to enrich the lives of the residents of Muncie and Delaware County.
