Programs

A to Z Fund

When it comes to giving Denver Public School students the education they deserve, the sky is the limit. The DPS Foundation’s A to Z classroom grants provide materials and opportunities that fall outside classroom budgets, but have a lasting impact on curious young learners. From aspiring Astronauts to Zoologists. And everything in between.

The A to Z Fund was established in 2006 in response to a growing need to provide schools with additional funding to help educators address specific student needs.

The A to Z Fund provides grants to individual schools for programs and activities that go beyond the school’s limited budget. The fund ensures that all DPS students have equal opportunity to participate in enriching learning experiences.

Read about the A to Z Fund grant for Oakland Elementary that provided a book fair for ECE students, promoting early literacy and summer learning.

Through the A to Z Fund, the DPS Foundation provides grants to schools for educational materials, athletic equipment, enrichment classes, competition fees, field trip expenses and more. These grants are available to any DPS school to enhance what students are learning in the classroom.

Since the inception of the A to Z Fund, the DPS Foundation has awarded more than $700,000 in A to Z grants, benefiting 125 schools.

Here are a few highlights of A to Z projects that are now under way in DPS thanks to the spring 2012 funding cycle:

Students at Columbian Elementary will participate in an in-depth study of Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” and participate in 8-one hour workshops with Colorado Shakespeare Festival members.
Special Education students at Denison Montessori will use Kindle readers to access literature classics written at their grade level. The Kindle Club will meet one to two times per week for book discussions and to practice reading skills necessary to become fluent readers.
Escalante-Biggs Academy will purchase Wooly Pockets – self-contained vertical gardens easily reachable by young children and movable between indoors and outdoors – to engage students in gardening and healthy eating.
Grant Beacon Middle School students will spend the last hour on Fridays to participate in the school’s enrichment program. Funds will be used to support programs such as drama, art, yearbook, etc.
Third graders at Harrington Elementary will attend the Plains Conservation Center to experience life in Colorado during the 1800s. Sixth graders will travel to three different college campuses.
The JROTC at Montbello High School will compete in the annual “Bataan Memorial Death March,” in White Sands, NM.
South High School is working with Lighthouse Writers Workshop to present a series on poetry to the school’s lower-achieving students in the Creative Writing class. The program will use music, arts and environment to inspire and guide the students’ works.

View grant process.

“We did extremely well, taking home a national title in one of the events! The team's success can, in part, be attributed to their ability to travel to national caliber tournaments during the year and gain practice against students from outside of Colorado. The A-Z Grant was instrumental in helping them to do this.”

Maryrose Kohan
George Washington’s Speech and Debate Coach

Particularly in the current climate of budget cuts and strain on our schools, providing these opportunities is more important than ever. And the demand far outweighs the capacity of the fund - every year, dozens of grant requests are turned down because there aren't sufficient funds to approve them all. Please consider supporting the A to Z Fund, knowing the difference it will make for thousands of students.
>> Make a tax-deductible gift today!