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The Coralwood Foundation was created to ensure Coralwood School has the resources necessary to provide the quality of education our children require and deserve not only this year but in the future. Its goal is to raise funds to help bridge the gap between what Coralwood receives from school system funding and what it needs to provide quality education. The Coralwood Foundation takes a long-term planning perspective and acts as an advocate with the DeKalb County School District.

 

The Foundation raises money and prioritizes expenditures to benefit Coralwood students, teachers, and the school as a whole. Since 2005, the Foundation has provided support for teachers through specialized training and mini-grants; new technology and classroom needs; enhancements to the music, motor therapy, outdoor classroom and library programs. The Foundation also funds a Director of Development. The Director of Development supports Foundation initiatives but also prepares grant requests and seeks philanthropic donations. In addition to supporting Coralwood School, the Foundation also monitors and responds to challenges and opportunities that appear within the school system.

 

Not your ordinary school

In an environment of education budget cuts and money-sensitive parents, and much higher educational expectations, one very special inclusion school has found a way to succeed on a grand scale. Coralwood School has a truly unique student population, with more than half having some form of disability. Having achieved the Governor's Platinum Award four years in a row, it is clear that school administrators, faculty and parents are doing something right.

 

A Foundation with a transformative mission

The reason is the Coralwood Foundation's narrow, unique focus: to encourage educational excellence from within. This singular focus has transformed Coralwood School from the inside out and from the bottom up. Teachers are empowered to pursue their own educational goals in order to advance the frontiers of learning. They are allowed to think creatively and learn from their own initiatives. They are encouraged to provide professional development training to other educators, as well as to develop successful educational models that can be replicated elsewhere.

 

The impact and difference it has made on the students is truly amazing. We envision our school growing its reputation not only in metro Atlanta but at the national level as a center for innovation in early childhood education for kids of all ability levels.

 

Unlike any other Foundation

Coralwood Foundation was created in May 2005. It is the brainchild of parents, teachers, therapists and school administrators who realized they couldn't rely exclusively on school system funding to build Coralwood School into a cutting-edge institution.

Because parent-teacher organizations (PTOs) must spend their money within the same school year it is raised, a steady revenue source was needed for long-term growth and planning. Coralwood developed a foundation with a permanent endowment fund. Unlike other Local Educational Foundations (LEF), Coralwood Foundation's endowment fund will keep on giving decade after decade.

 

Every dollar is used strategically

Every dollar donated to the Coralwood Foundation is immediately put to work. The Endowment Fund for the Coralwood School was created to provide long-term financial support for the educational innovations of teachers, the salary of the Director of Development and other needs of the school. Money raised for the Endowment Fund stays in the fund, only the interest earned is spent.

Since 2005, the Foundation has raised $300,000 in its Annual Classroom Challenge campaigns for the Endowment Fund and capital improvements with 100% parent participation in 2008-2009. The funds from the Classroom Challenge are used to benefit our current students by funding immediate classroom needs and the salary of the Director of Development who writes grants to pay for Coralwood's programming needs. The remaining funds are allocated to the Endowment Fund.