Dallas Fort Worth Nonprofit Business Journal

Category: Education

  • Communities In Schools Of Greater Tarrant County, Inc. Announces New Development Officer

    Communities In Schools of Greater Tarrant County, Inc. (CIS-GTC) announced in a press release the addition of Michelle Riffle as the organization’s new development officer.

    Riffle comes to CIS-GTC from the software company, RainMaker.  Her previous professional experience includes community engagement at Girls Inc. of Tarrant County and development for Casa Manana.

    Riffle received her bachelor’s degree in classical flute performance from Pennsylvania’s Duquense University, and holds a master of music from the University of Texas at Arlington. She works seasonally with the Fort Worth Symphony.

    ABOUT COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS OF GREATER TARRANT COUNTY

    Communities In Schools of Greater Tarrant County is a 501c3 non-profit that is part of a national network of CIS programs serving more than 1.2 million students. The Fort Worth-based organization began from a 1990-91 United Way task force focusing on the critical dropout problem for two FWISD high schools by serving less than 200 students. Today, CIS-GTC is currently placed in 46 schools across 8 Tarrant County school districts for the 2017-2018 school year, serving students who are identified by their schools as most at-risk of dropping out. CIS-GTC serves not only students, but their families, assessing their unique needs and working with more than 80 community partner organizations to connect the students with the resources they need to address a wide range of issues. The mission of CIS-GTC is to surround students with a community of support, empowering them to stay in school and achieve in life. Find out more on the organization’s website.

  • UT Dallas Qualifies for State’s ‘Tier One’ Fund

    The University of Texas at Dallas announced that it has achieved the critical benchmark criteria required to qualify for funding from the National Research University Fund (NRUF), an exclusive source of research support available to the state’s “emerging research universities.”

    UT Dallas qualified for this funding, which this fiscal year totaled $7.5 million, by achieving these Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s benchmarks for two consecutive years:

    • $45 million in annual expenditures on restricted research.
    • $400 million endowment.
    • High-achieving freshman class.
    • High-quality faculty.
    • Membership in the Association of Research Libraries, Phi Beta Kappa or equivalent national organization.

    “In its short history, The University of Texas at Dallas has set itself apart and earned their reputation as a national leader in research,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said in a release. “UT Dallas has generated innovative and groundbreaking discoveries that contribute to our economy and advance Texas as a premier state for higher education. I congratulate UT Dallas for qualifying for the National Research University Fund, and I look forward to all their great work to come.”

    UT Dallas is the third emerging research university to meet the NRUF eligibility requirements, after Texas Tech University and the University of Houston.

    Read more here.

    ABOUT UT DALLAS

    Established in 1969, UT Dallas offers top-ranked science, engineering and business programs, and has gained prominence for a breadth of educational paths from audiology to arts and technology. The University enrolls more than 27,600 students — 18,380 undergraduate and 9,250 graduate — and offers a broad array of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. UT Dallas’ faculty includes a Nobel laureate, six members of the National Academies and more than 575 tenured and tenure-track professors. Dr. Aziz Sancar, who earned his PhD in molecular and cell biology from UT Dallas in 1977, won the 2015 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

  • Delta Sigma Theta sorority to donate hundreds of books to Paul Quinn College

    Dallas Morning News reported that Delta Sigma Theta sorority recently announced it will donate hundreds of books to Dallas’ Paul Quinn College.

    The sorority coordinated the book drive recently and has begun to ship about 300 new books to the college. The books include novels and textbooks.

    The book drive took place as the sorority’s annual service project.

    Michael Sorrell, president of Paul Quinn College, told the Dallas Morning News that he is “thrilled about the donation” from the sorority.

    “It’s consistent with the level of care and concern that we’ve always seen from them and we’re excited to be partners,” he said.

    Phillips told the Dallas Morning News that the books will “be the gift that keeps on giving because countless students and community members will have access to these books for years to come.”

    ABOUT DELTA SIGMA THETA SORORITY

    Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated is a private, not-for-profit organization whose purpose is to provide assistance and support through established programs in local communities throughout the world. Since its founding more than 200,000 women have joined the organization. The organization is a sisterhood of predominantly Black, college educated women. The sorority currently has 1,000 collegiate and alumnae chapters located in the United States, England, Japan (Tokyo and Okinawa), Germany, the Virgin Islands, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Jamaica and the Republic of Korea. Find out more on the organization’s website.

  • Dallas Arboretum Founders Garden Club to host Fall Vegetable Gardening Workshop

    The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden announces that the Founders Garden Club of Dallas will present a workshop entitled “Everything You Wanted to Know About Fall Vegetable Gardening” on Saturday, July 28 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Rosine Hall with a tour of A Tasteful Place following the session. This event is free to those with paid garden admission.

    Founders Garden Club of Dallas, a Garden Club of America member, is sponsoring this day to help garden guests learn the essentials of planning, preparation, planting, growing and harvesting fresh vegetables – both in a garden plot or containers.

    Current club President Barbara Hunt Crow said, “This workshop will focus on fall gardening as our North Texas climate is perfect for growing many vegetables such as cucumbers, squash, lettuce and more. One goal of Founders is to be able to sponsor informative workshops, and the Dallas Arboretum is the perfect partner to help make it happen.”

    The day begins with a welcome by Dallas Arboretum President and CEO Mary Brinegar followed by the first workshop, “Planning for a Fall Vegetable Garden,” by Daniel Cunningham of Texas AgriLife.

    Next, Dallas Arboretum’s Vice President of Horticulture Jenny Wegley speaks about “Vegetable Selection and Planting: What, When and How.”

    Following lunch, Barbara Brown of Denton County Master Gardeners discusses “Harvesting and Preserving the Bounty From Your Garden.” The last speaker, Dana Wilson of North Haven Gardens, talks about composting.

    After guests attend this informative workshop, Wegley will take participants to see the Dallas Arboretum’s latest garden, A Tasteful Place, a new 3.5-acre, $12 million edible display garden that showcases the best gardening practices with fruit, herbs and vegetables. She will explain additional gardening techniques in these Potager Gardens, which translate as an ornamental kitchen garden. The Potager Gardens are a signature element of the development with in-season vegetables, herbs and flowers, planted ornamentally and interspersed with flowers to attract pollinators and beneficial insects. Of the four potagers, one is named for the late Marilyn R. Corrigan and the other for her daughter, Catherine A. Corrigan, both Founders Garden Club members.

    For more information on the July 28th event or to register, contact Linda Herrington at 214-515-6640 or via email at lherrington@dallasarboretum.org.

    *Photo courtesy of Dallas Arboretum. Pictured: Jenny Wegley, Dallas Arboretum’s vice president of horticulture, as she shows garden guests proper gardening techniques during the first Founders Garden Club workshop.

    ABOUT THE DALLAS ARBORETUM AND BOTANICAL GARDEN

    The Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens is located on the southeastern shore of White Rock Lake at 8525 Garland Road, Dallas, Texas 75218.  The Dallas Arboretum is also the home of the internationally acclaimed Rory Meyers Children’s Adventure Garden. The Arboretum is open daily from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. General admission is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors 65 and older, $10 for children 3-12 and free for Arboretum members and children two and under. On-site parking is $15 or $9, if purchased in advance online. The Dallas Morning News is the principal partner of the Dallas Arboretum.  The Arboretum is supported, in part, by funds from the Dallas Park and Recreation Department. WFAA is an official media sponsor for the Dallas Arboretum. Find out more on the organization’s website.

  • Highland Park Education Foundation receives historic $10M gift from the Clements Foundation

    The Highland Park Education Foundation announced in May 2018 that the Clements Foundation made a historic $10 million gift to the Highland Park Education Foundation Tartan Fund to establish the William P. Clements, Jr. Fund in support of teachers in the Highland Park Independent School District. The gift is the largest in the history of the Education Foundation and District.

    “This gift recognizes our teachers’ skill and dedication, and shows our appreciation of their commitment to our students,” Nancy Seay said in the release. Seay is the daughter of Governor Bill Clements and a board member of the Clements Foundation. “The goal of this gift to the Highland Park Education Foundation is to help the school district support our teachers.”

    Clements graduated from Highland Park High School in 1934 and all of his grandchildren and many of his great-grandchildren have attended HPISD.

    “This transformational gift to the Tartan Fund is helping meet the enduring needs of teachers into the future,” HPEF Board President Ann Fielder said. “WIth the principal of the gift invested, a portion of the annual income from earnings is available to help meet teacher needs across the entire District.”

    Read the full release here.

    *Photo courtesy of Highland Park Education Foundation. From left to right, top row: Jan Peterson, Kelly Walker, Ann Fielder, Tom Trigg, Stacy Kelly, Lauren Holloway; bottom row: Nancy Seay, Pauline Neuhoff, Margaret Napier.

  • After8toEducate receives $500,000 matching grant from Rainwater Foundation

    After8toEducate announced that it has received a $500,000 grant in support of its mission from the Rainwater Charitable Foundation. The gift, the largest in the organization’s brief  history, will match dollar for-dollar up to the half-million maximum commitment. These funds will be raised during the designated period that is now through November 30, 2018.

    “We are extremely excited and grateful for the support by the Rainwater Charitable Foundation,” said Hillary Evans, After8toEducate’s executive director, in a release. “This gift, contingent on matching funds, makes a powerful statement that this collaboration is important. The planned programs are vital and valuable to the many homeless youth in Dallas who desperately need our help.”

    After8toEducate previously reported raising over a half-million dollars towards a $2 million-dollar capital fundraising goal. With Rainwater’s $500,000 investment, plus matching funds, After8 will be three-quarters of the way closer to reaching this goal. After8 is seeking community support.

    Last year, After8toEducate received unanimous support from the DISD school board to repurpose the former Fannie C. Harris Elementary School, an abandoned school building in South Dallas as the center for these services.

    ABOUT AFTER8TOEDUCATE

    After8toEducate is the first-of-its-kind, public-private collaborative to support and provide essential services to unsheltered Dallas ISD high school students and other homeless youth ages 14-21. Founded by Texas businessman and philanthropist Jorge Baldor in May 2017, the organization launched in response to the growing number of homeless students in the Dallas Independent School District, currently estimated to be more than 3,500, and alarmingly still increasing. Its mission is to create a comprehensive solution that assists DISD high school students and other homeless youth to develop academically, emotionally, and socially. Formed through the Social Venture Partners Dallas and harnessing the strengths of DISD and nonprofit agencies Promise House and CitySquare, the organization will open and operate an after-hours drop-in center this fall in South Dallas, where homeless youth can find refuge and a place to study, eat, shower, and access other immediate support services. The shelter component will open next providing sleeping rooms and other social services for DISD unsheltered high school youth. For more information or to donate, go to http://www.after8toeducate.com.

  • Communities in Schools of North Texas receives multi-million dollar grant from Texas Education Agency

    The Denton-Record Chronicle reported that Communities in Schools of North Texas (CISNT) has just received a multi-year, multi-million dollar grant from the Texas Education Agency.

    CISNT was chosen to receive a 21st Century Afterschool Centers on Education (ACE) grant, which is administered through the Texas Education Agency and funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The organization is slated to received $1.5 million each year for up to three years to operate 10 programs in both Denton and Lewisville ISD.

    “The ACE program is intentionally designed to enhance student learning through engaging instruction and enrichment and we are thrilled to be able to offer this to students and families,” said CISNT CEO Ann Pape Wilson in a news release. “Involvement from the community played a key role in our winning this grant. We couldn’t have won without the support from the Denton and Lewisville Board of Trustees and Superintendents, as well as school principals, teachers, school staff, and community partners throughout North Texas.”

    According to the Denton Record-Chronicle, CISNT estimates it will enroll at least 1,100 students in its ACE programs each year.

    ABOUT COMMUNITIES IN SCHOOLS NORTH TEXAS

    1 in 2 students in North Texas students are in at-risk of dropping out of school. With the help of Communities in Schools of North Texas (CISNT), part of the nation’s largest dropout prevention network, many will beat the odds this year and stay in school. CISNT, a non-profit administered through guidelines by the Texas Education Agency, is part of an innovative national approach established to combat the dropout problem. Find out more on the organization’s website.

  • Four KIPP Texas Regional Networks to Merge

    The 74 reported that 4 KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) Texas Regional Networks will be merging into a single NonProfit covering the State of Texas.

    The four regional KIPP networks in Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio will become KIPP Texas Public Schools. The new statewide KIPP Texas will educate 27,700 students, 25% of KIPP’s national student population, across 52 campuses.

    The former superintendent of KIPP Houston, Sehba Ali, will lead the statewide network as its CEO. Ali told The 74 that she expects new opportunities for growth and innovation through this new venture.

    The goal of the merger, KIPP leaders explained to The 74, is to capture the best of a large system without getting bogged down in the type of district bureaucracy for which charters were meant to be an antidote.

    Read the full article here.

    ABOUT KIPP PUBLIC SCHOOLS

    KIPP is a non-profit network of college-preparatory, public charter schools serving elementary, middle, and high school student for success in college and in life.

    There are 224 KIPP schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia educating nearly 100,000 students on their path to and through college, careers, and life.

    Each KIPP regional organization is a separate nonprofit that oversees its local KIPP schools and provides schools with shared services in areas such as alumni support, teacher training, leadership development, community outreach, operations, and data analysis. KIPP regional organizations are governed by a local board of directors, led by an executive director or superintendent, and often partner with neighboring schools and community based organizations.

    Find out more on the organization’s website.

  • Fort Worth Library launches new Wi-Fi hotspot program

    The Fort Worth Public Library has just launched a new program that allows anyone with a library card to check out a Wi-Fi hotspot at one of four library locations.

    The pilot program provides Wi-Fi hotspot check-out in economically challenged neighborhoods throughout Fort Worth. The program is funded by Friends of the Fort Worth Public Library.

    “Offering this service gives individuals and families who often rely on the library’s free Wi-Fi the ability to access information outside of library hours,” said Manya Shorr, library director. “Whether searching for jobs, doing homework, research or just having fun, now people can take home the internet to use on up to 10 devices.”

    The service launched July 3 with 20 devices available at four locations:

    • Cavile Outreach Opportunity Library (COOL), 5060 Ave. G.
    • East Berry, 4300 E. Berry St.
    • Northside, 601 Park St.
    • Seminary South, 501 E. Bolt St.

    The service is available to adults and youths in good standing with a Fort Worth resident library card. Patrons can place holds on the hotspots and pick them up at one of the four pilot branches. Each check-out lasts three weeks; if there are no holds placed on the hotspot, patrons can renew their check-out up to two consecutive times.

    Library staff members at the four locations are trained to help patrons learn how to use the service.

    *Photo courtesy of the Fort Worth Public Library. Pictured are Councilmembers Gyna Bivens (District 5) and Carlos Flores (District 2) as they receive an introduction to the new hotspots from Katie Combs, project lead.

    ABOUT THE FORT WORTH PUBLIC LIBRARY

    The Fort Worth Library’s mission is to welcome and support all people in their enjoyment of reading and recreational materials, and their pursuit of learning and information. Find out more on the Library’s website.

  • Texas Women’s University offering free tech workshops for women in business this summer

    Texas Women’s University Center for Women in Business has announced it will offer free “School of Tech for Entrepreneurs” workshops all summer long. Workshops include lessons on utilizing programs such as Access, Excel and other Google Apps in your business.

    All courses are held on TWU’s Denton campus (Arts & Sciences Building, room 105) at 5:30 p.m. Courses are free and open for anyone to attend, but guests should register ahead of time.

    Courses to be offered in July are:

    • Microsoft Excel 101: 5:30-7 p.m. July 17
    • Email Management: 5:30-7 p.m. July 24
    • Google Apps Overview: 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. July 31

    ABOUT TEXAS WOMEN’S UNIVERSITY

    Established in 1901, Texas Woman’s University has campuses in Denton, Dallas and Houston. Known for its strengths in the fields of education, nutrition, business, the arts and sciences, and especially in the nursing and health care professions, the university offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in traditional, online and hybrid formats. Texas Woman’s University is home to numerous important collections focused on women’s leadership, including the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) National Archives, the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame, and the Texas First Ladies Historic Costume Collection. Find out more on the university’s website.