Our History:
Founded in 1984 as a partnership of businesses, parents, educators, and community members, the Fund for Educational Excellence (Fund) is Baltimore's only local education fund and one of its most trusted and experienced education intermediaries. We believe a strong public school system is critical to the overall health of our community, and we remain commited to improving student achievement in the Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools).
Our efforts began with mini-grants to teachers to support purchasing books or equipment, designing new lesson plans, and a variety of other individual or small group projects. Recognizing the need for a more substantial approach to impact teaching and learning, the Fund introduced in 1998 its signature Achievement First literacy reform model which uses job-embedded professional development, ongoing instructional leadership support, and a culture of collaboration and accountability to improve student achievement. The Fund also provides a variety of customized professional development programs and services to the district, as well as schools across Baltimore.
The Fund has a long history of working with our City Schools partners to build sustainable reform. We have helped: establish new, high quality secondary schools; introduce secondary school choice; increase college readiness and access programs; design leadership development programs; create new budgeting and management structures; and develop many other district reform initiatives. Our focus throughout these efforts has been on enhancing leadership, instructional, and technical capacity as the best path to student success.
Today we focus our efforts on three high-impact areas: fostering sustainable reform, developing human capital, and engaging community to be part of the solution. You can read more about each of these areas by clicking on the section titles. For a quick overview of our Current Intiatives, please click here.
