Over the last year, the Heart of the School Fund has supported projects that have focused primarily on schools’ COVID response such as an outdoor classroom, technology to support remote learning, and professional development to enhance the instruction and learning happening at school.

With schools closed last fall, Hamilton Elementary/Middle School’s Principal Pouncey applied for funding to purchase “Learning in a Box” kits from Improving Education to provide pre-k and kindergarten students access to additional learning opportunities. The grant helped purchase 68 Boxes, which included a grade-appropriate book, school supplies, arts supplies, play doh, a dry erase board, and instructions to help parents support learning.

Take a look at what teachers, Ms. May and Mrs. Naughten, had to say about the impact of the toolkits on students and their parents:

“Parents have shared that they really enjoy having the boxes for their child. The children love all the different materials. Parents have used the stamps and foam letters/numbers as extensions for their child's learning. The activity cards have been great. While we are teaching, we see our students' parents next to them, and engaging them with the materials and lessons.”

“The different materials had a positive impact! We have been able to utilize most of the materials into our daily lessons. The boxes allowed us to make sure that all of our students had access to the same materials. When planning lessons, we knew what materials everyone had. The dry erase board is used every day with the students. It has been a great way to keep them engaged. We use play-doh when learning how to form different letters. The journals are used for writing activities. The students love to draw pictures and share what they wrote.”