Stay Up To Date With CSFP

On December 13, Children’s Scholarship Fund Philadelphia (CSFP) staff, donors, parents, and volunteers gathered to personally call the families of the children recently selected through our priority lottery for K-8th grade scholarships. Our friends at NRG hosted this year’s Lottery Day celebration at Lincoln Financial Field. Football legends Jason Avant and Harold Carmichael joined in the festivities. Just before the event, CSFP’s Executive Director, Heather Frattone, surprised some new families in person. It was an emotional moment: when Heather let these families know that their children would receive 4-year, need-based scholarships for up to three children in their family, parents...

This past Saturday, CSFP and our partners at GreatPhillySchools (GPS) teamed up to host the Philly K-8 School Fair. We brought together 1,300 children and family members, 93 diverse schools, and community partners for a day of sharing information at Girard College.   We developed the Philly K-8 School Fair back in 2016 to increase Philadelphia families’ knowledge of their K-8th grade school options in the city and surrounding area. The Greater Philadelphia region hosts hundreds of public, private, and charter schools serving grades K-8, and gaining an understanding of the different applications processes and requirements for these diverse schools...

CSFP’s Parent Ambassador (PA) program focuses on building community. As PAs work with school administrators, CSFP families at their schools, and their own personal networks to increase awareness and understanding of our program, they build valuable connections across the Greater Philadelphia community. And a substantial portion of that community is parents with pre-K aged children. On October 10, Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) hosted CSFP and our PAs for a training session on Keystone STARS, the leading pre-K rating system in Pennsylvania. We learned about updates to the Keystone STARS program, as well as the criteria used to assess pre-K...

Each year, CSFP brings administrators from our network of 170 partner schools together for a Partner School Meeting to network, share best practices, and review CSFP partner school guidelines. This year’s meeting also featured guest speakers on topics relevant to K-8th grade education: Great Philly Schools (GPS) representatives spoke about their rating system, and representatives from AIM Institute presented their literacy teacher training opportunity, AIM Pathways. CSFP also reviewed requirements for private schools that offer pre-K to participate in Pennsylvania’s leading pre-K rating system, Keystone STARS. Administrators from CSFP’s diverse partner schools said they value this engaging meeting, providing feedback...

On Comcast Newsmakers, host Jill Horner and CSFP ED Heather Frattone discusssed two opportunities available for Philadelphia families with K-8th grade children. The Philly K-8 School Fair, on October 27, will host over 100 diverse public district, public charter, and private schools at Girard College. The event is designed to help families across the city learn about their options for elementary and middle school. And applications to CSFP’s random lottery for need-based scholarships are open, with a priority deadline of November 15.