Fremont Education Foundation
The Fremont Education Foundation is a non-profit, tax-exempt, public charity, established in 1991, to encourage increased community involvement and investment in our schools. Its members include parents, educators, school administrators, business people, and others from the Fremont community. It is an independent foundation that works closely with, but is separate from, the Fremont Unified School District. F.E.F. has been a member of the Fremont Chamber of Commerce since 2001.
The Fremont Education Foundation currently funds three major programs within the Fremont Unified School District:
- After-school band programs open to 4th through 6th graders at all elementary schools.
- Teacher grants in support of innovative, quality classroom programs in grades K-12. The intent of these programs is to increase student achievement in academics, creativity, leadership, critical thinking, and visual and performing arts. The goal of the grant program is to encourage new approaches to teaching that may subsequently be implemented elsewhere in the district. Grants often fund the acquisition of materials and equipment that provide years of continuing benefit to the classrooms receiving the awards.
- Sports wear and equipment scholarships (new 2003). Our newest fund, the Guy Emanuele Sports Fund, aims to encourage greater participation in co-curricular sports by providing financial assistance to students who wish to participate in school-sponsored sports programs but who need financial assistance to acquire necessary equipment and sportswear.
More information can be found on the Fremont Education Foundation web site.
Music for Minors II
MFMII is a music enrichment program that was piloted at Niles School in Fremont with seed money from FUSD and the Candle Lighters to help fill the void of music in the schools. Since then we have been serving Fremont schools with weekly music enrichment in grades K - 6. From Niles School, MFMII has expanded to ten schools in Fremont and seven schools in nearby school districts.
We currently serve over 5,000 children weekly with music enrichment. MFMII's mission is to nurture the love and literacy of music in children's classrooms and offer performance opportunities in the community. The program involves recruitment of community volunteers - most of whom are parents - and training them in an annual fall class that is taught through Ohlone College in Fremont. Volunteers become music docents and commit to teaching 1/2 hour music lessons weekly in the schools. Classroom teachers are present when the docent teaches, so there is simultaneously an inservicing of teachers who are thus empowered to integrate more music into their daily curriculum.
MFMII docent training classes begin each fall in several locations - please access the web site www.musicforminors2.org for further details. Volunteers need to be able to sing on pitch and keep beat. The training develops the volunteers' musical skills and provides all materials and resources through the four resource centers located throughout Fremont and in Castro Valley. The parent volunteers who commit to the program find great fulfillment in sharing music with children and often become teachers based on their positive MFMII experience in classrooms.