Education

Although New Jersey students often rank high for test score averages, there are far too many students who lack access to excellence in education throughout the state. Schools need skilled and passionate adults to make them work, and school leaders are the key to a successful public education system. Our education grants prepare new teachers for their careers, as well as access to steady and quality professional training. We believe that our principals and superintendents must have the opportunity to support their peers and innovation.

Our education grants also focus on the transformative power of the arts to nurture critical and creative thinking in our young people and open up new pathways to learning. The arts, particularly those programs which focus on long-term, immersive experiences, are a vital tool for helping students learn a wide array of concepts. We have witnessed, over our many years of funding arts education programs, that kids frustrated with not understanding a math or science concept, for example, could easily grasp those concepts if taught through dance, music, or dramatic play.

The promise of New Jersey’s robust arts education standards in all four disciplines (visual arts, music, theatre and dance) must be accessible to every child, and we believe that strong arts education programs spark creativity and appreciation for the arts, and help develop skills to train our future artists.

Education Guidelines:

Promote critical and creative thinking for young people and their teachers in New Jersey’s underserved communities through transformational, experiential arts education opportunities.

We strive to fulfill this vision for Education in New Jersey by funding organizations that:

• Provide exemplary, long-term arts experiences that help students develop their creativity;
• Offer high-level instruction in the arts to train future artists;
• Integrate the arts and the artistic process with science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) curricula and programs.

Improve primary and secondary level public education in New Jersey’s underserved districts through the preparation of high quality teachers and school leaders, and the innovative use of assessment to advance student learning.

We strive to fulfill this vision for Education in New Jersey by funding organizations that:

• Redesign teacher training and incorporate a more robust clinical experience;
• Provide exceptional professional development of teachers in the areas of arts education and environmental stewardship;
• Advance the leadership role of principals and superintendents to improve student learning.