$2.5 million gift from the Maguire Foundation will fund 2,000 new Pre-K – 1st grade scholarships through CSFP

PHILADELPHIA- The Maguire Foundation today announced a gift for $2.5 million to Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia (CSFP) that launches CSFP’s new Maguire Early Access Scholarship Program to support scholarships for under-resourced pre-K – 1^st grade students at 34 participating schools in Philadelphia. The gift makes possible CSFP’s first ever scholarships to pre-K students, establishing an early pipeline to quality education for Philadelphia children.

The Maguire Foundation’s donation launches a five-year partnership that will allow CSFP to award 2,000 pre-K – 1^st grade scholarships for low-income children to attend tuition-based schools in Philadelphia. These scholarships offer hope, opportunity, and a greater chance at success for students by providing financial access to quality early education private schools in the Greater Philadelphia area.

“Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia is grateful for the vision and generosity of the Maguire family and The Maguire Foundation,” said Nicole Tell, Vice President of Development and Chief Operating Officer at Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia. “The Maguire Foundation believes, as CSFP does, in the importance of early access to a quality education to provide the strong foundation that children from low-income Philadelphia families need to succeed later in life.”

The Maguire Foundation announcement of the new Maguire Early Access Program took place at Saint Francis de Sales School, one of CSFP’s 170 partner schools, and one of the 34 schools available for the pre-K scholarship recipients. Pre-K students from de Sales presented Emilia Twomey, Maguire Scholars Program Coordinator at the Maguire Foundation, with a song and a card as a thank you for the foundation.

“We’re thrilled to be able to fund the Maguire Early Access Scholarship Program,” said Megan Maguire Nicoletti, President and CEO of the Maguire Foundation. “Quality pre-K sets students up for success down the road—not just later in school, but throughout their lives. We are proud to invest in a program that opens up these quality early education opportunities to 2,000 more Philadelphia students over the next five years.”

All new CSFP scholarships will be awarded through a random lottery, are four years in length, need-based, and can be provided to a family as a whole for up to three children. Applications are available online at csfphiladelphia.org through March 1. CSFP holds a priority deadline of November 15, 2019, and a final deadline of March 1, 2020. Maguire Early Access Scholarships can be used at these 34 schools in the CSFP network.