Programs

A to Z Fund

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 nearly $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 fall 2011 funding cycle:

Third through fifth grade students at Steele Elementary will participate in the Ameritowne program at Young Americans Bank.
Sabin International will purchase non-fiction books to update its library collection.
Harrington will award students who participate in after-school tutoring with an overnight adventure at the Denver Zoo.
Oakland Elementary’s ECE students will visit the Butterfly Pavilion prior to their study unit on bugs. Teachers will also purchase caterpillars and ladybugs larvae to accompany the unit to enhance student learning.
Students at Greenwood E-8 will serve as field biologist apprentices, study field ecology of birds of prey and publish their findings in a book.

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!