Jeanine Bischoff 
The pandemic has meant Rippleffect’s Cow Island is off limits, forcing the Portland-based organization to shift its programming. After a summer and fall of programming pivots due to the pandemic, Rippleffect is planning to get creative again to get Portland middle school students outside this spring. The nonprofit organization will get students outdoors and physically … Read more
Eloise Colhoun is a twelve-year-old, sixth grade student at the Friends School of Portland. Over Thanksgiving break, she and her dad watched a video of huge lines of people lined up for Thanksgiving meals. Eloise was profoundly affected by the scene and decided to take action to address food insecurity in her own community. She … Read more
The Foundation for Portland Public Schools received a grant from the Edward H. Daveis Benevolent Fund of the Maine Community Foundation. With these funds, the Portland Public Schools PreK program will create an interactive, multilingual video resource for families to learn strategies of how to support their children at home around the Maine Early Learning … Read more
EnviroLogix, a Portland-based diagnostic company, gave two grants totaling $16,000 in late 2020 to the Foundation for Portland Public Schools (FPPS) through the EBI Foundation, their parent organization’s (Ensign-Bickford Industries) charitable fund. With a focus on fostering innovation in the classroom, these grants will enhance learning experiences and support the goals of the district’s strategic … Read more
Article from The Forecaster, by Micheal Kelly Portland school officials hope a $10,000 grant from UNUM that the Foundation for Portland Public Schools received last month will help to diversify the district’s staff and complement work underway in the Portland Promise, the district’s goal of rooting out systemic inequalities and attracting and retaining a diverse … Read more
Unum has donated $10,000 to the Foundation for Portland Public Schools (FPPS) to strengthen efforts to recruit, hire, and retain a more diverse staff within the Portland Public Schools. This grant is part of the Foundation’s Addressing the Opportunity Gap Campaign, a community campaign to accelerate and deepen the school district’s equity work. The Portland … Read more
In his State of the Schools Address, Portland Public School board chair Roberto Rodriguez outlined the difficulties the district has faced since the start of the pandemic. “If you had told me last November that in 2020, masks, social distancing, and hybrid learning would become words that we used every day, and I would be … Read more
The Foundation for Portland Public Schools (FPPS) has completed its twelfth annual fall teacher grants program cycle. Sixty-one teachers have been awarded grants totaling $48,595, impacting over 8,000 students at all grade levels in 16 schools across the district. The Equity and Innovation Teachers Grants Program supports PPS teachers in their efforts to enrich education, innovate in … Read more
Spectrum donated 25 new laptop computers to Portland Adult Education (PAE) and $2,500 to the Foundation for Portland Public Schools to kick off the academic year while addressing coronavirus related needs of the school district. Spectrum, a key Internet service provider in the state, has been working with the Maine Department of Education and others … Read more
Spectrum Healthcare Partners, Martin’s Point Health Care, and InterMed have joined together to provide 2,000 thermometers and 500 child-sized, reusable masks to distribute to Portland Public Schools students. The effort, coordinated by Spectrum Healthcare Partners and the Foundation for Portland Public Schools, is intended to help students and families comply with school health and safety … Read more