Our story began with caring Amphi teachers who kept bins of clothing in the trunk of their car to provide to students in need. They realized the importance of a more formal organization and thus the Amphitheater Public Schools Foundation, Inc. was established in 1983. Three years later, we incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
The Amphi Foundation has, for most of its history, focused primarily on services that helped make it possible for students to attend school ready to learn. We do our best to meet the needs of our schools and students by making adjustments in programing and fundraising efforts in order to provide the most currently needed support and resources.
In 2007, the Amphi Foundation launched its most ambitious program, the 21st Century Classroom Technology Initiative, through a generous grant from BHP Copper Inc. Our goal was to provide current, durable classroom technologies, and we began by equipping classrooms in every school with interactive, touch-screen SMART Boards.
The following year, the Amphi Foundation partnered with MathPLUS+ to provide students with personalized, computer-aided math tutoring specifically designed to meet AIMS test standards.
In 2015, we were proud to bring Shoes to Smiles onto our roster. This program was originally founded in 2007 by Trindy LeForge, a former Amphi Foundation Board Member. Students are invited on a field trip to a local shoe store where they connect with an adult volunteer who helps them pick out shoes and a package of socks. The children receive valuable one on one time with an adult, the experience of picking out brand new shoes, and everyone goes home with a smile on their face!
In 2018, we began fundraising efforts to support Amphi’s STEM For All initiative by providing $10,000 to every elementary and middle school in the district for their newly established makerspaces. Makerspaces are an amazing, collaborative work room for students to learn, make, explore and share! Funding was used to help build out the rooms with furniture, equipment, technology, robots, craft supplies, tools, workbenches, and more.
In 2019, at the start of the pandemic, we addressed the digital divide by purchasing Chromebooks and partnering with Cox and Comcast to sponsor wi-fi so students could learn from home.
In the last five years, the Amphi Foundation has experienced exponential growth as we continue to find innovative ways to support Amphi students. We believe the best way to build a better community, is to support our future leaders.
Basics like clothing, shoes, and hygiene supplies for our students, so they can go to school and be ready to learn.
Grants for educators with funding and support for technology, makerspaces, STEM & fine arts programs.
Literacy support, summer programs, athletic fee waivers, academic travel stipends, scholarships, and more.
