The Holmdel Foundation for Educational Excellence (HFEE) is thrilled to announce its Annual Gift for the 2021-2022 school year. In a continuation of providing exceptional STEM resources to the district, the HFEE will be gifting two new science classrooms to Village Elementary School. The gift will transform the current spaces of Rooms 105 and 132 into modern, innovative and flexible workspaces, where children grades 1-3 can create projects and explore new concepts (Note: the PSA will fund a K-1 science room). Key features of the rooms will include an Epson Bright Link Projector that will provide interactive displays and screens for education that will aim to expand student perspectives in the classroom. The room will also include iPads to utilize the best science apps to complement the already top-notch curriculum. Microscopes, fixed pulleys and ant farms are just some of the other exciting resources that will be at the fingertips of our youngest students.

 “The Trustees and I are truly honored to take on this project in collaboration with Alicia Killean, Supervisor of Math and Science for the district, and Lisa Vitale, Principal (2^nd-3^rd Grade) for Village School,” said HFEE Co-Chair Michelle Sottile. “Our organization has a long history of providing gifts that we hope will have great impact on thousands of students and teachers in the years to come, and further elevate our leading district. Of course, none of this could be done without the incredibly generous support of our family and corporate donors.” “Following well thought out presentations from all of the district schools, it became clear that this would be an opportunity to further strengthen our STEM foundation from the ground up and prepare our students for the rigor of upper-elementary,” said Bryan Rukin, HFEE Co-Chair.

The HFEE, backed by the support of generous donors, will commit more than $140K for this project. The Trustees and school administrators are finalizing the equipment and design, and anticipate groundbreaking to commence during the 2022 summer break, with a firm goal of utilizing the rooms for the upcoming 2022-23 school year.

Current photos of one of the science rooms:

Proposed rendering:

A full rendering for the Science Room renovation is available in PDF format here.

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Dear Holmdel families:

While many may be familiar with HFEE’s largest gifts made to Holmdel district schools annually, did you know that we also offer approximately $20K annually in mini grant funding to help students and teachers make a real impact. We’ve seen creative and innovative ideas - from simple to complex - and that’s exactly what we are looking for in the applications.  Mini-grants may be awarded to individual applicants or groups of applicants, and may include projects such as improvement or expansion of existing programs or the creation of something new! Mini grants are awarded up to $2,500.

In 2021, student and teacher mini grants were awarded across all schools. Examples included:

• A mindfulness program, which included a serene space for children to practice mindfulness and rebalance (HHS)
• A 3D product and development scanner (HHS)
• A UV lightbox to observe DNA fragments (HHS)
• Aerodynamic tools (Satz)
• Robotics and stop motion video (IH)
• ARRIVE Time reading program for 3^rd grade classes (Village)
• Child-friendly, artist-based books for the art library (Village)

Now that is REAL impact!

If you know a student (or teacher) who is interested in applying for an HFEE mini grant, please fill out the application (note: there is a separate application for teachers). The deadline for submitting grant applications is February 25, 2022. To see other recent mini grant gifts the HFEE has provided, click here.

For more information, please go to https://www.hfee.org/grants (contact Rushmi Mathur for additional questions). Help us continue to make these powerful grants possible by donating to HFEE.org/give!

With gratitude,
The HFEE Trustees

www.hfee.org

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