Education

Grants to programs that teach children to be successful in school will reap rewards for the community next year and next decade.

A Summit County tradition

In 1847, Akron established the state’s first K-12 public school system. The mission: free, quality education for all. Today, people across Summit County continue to support public education mightily with their votes, their wallets and their volunteer time.

They also support education through Akron Community Foundation's scholarship funds, which send more than 100 students to college every year, and permanent endowments like the Ted and Barb Walter Catholic Education Fund and the Mignon Steere Fund for Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park Environmental Education.

On your behalf, the community foundation works enthusiastically with individual schools, school systems, education leaders, nonprofit innovators, parents and community members to identify the best opportunities for investing in our children's future.

A good example is the early learning priority we began in 2008. Since then, approximately half of our education funding each year is focused on preparing children from birth to age 5 for a lifetime of learning.

Over the past decade, Akron Community Foundation has directed nearly $5 million in competitive grants alone to such education efforts as:

• Early learning and kindergarten readiness as a founding partner of the Summit County First Things First early care and education plan

• • • • Are you a fundholder? We can keep you up to date on the community’s arts and culture landscape. Or, we can offer funding options in this and other areas of interest.

• Literacy initiatives like the First Book of Greater Akron free children's book program, and adult literacy and GED programs at Project LEARN of Summit County
• Vocational and continuing education, like employment training for residents with developmental disabilities at Hattie Larlham

Those are just a few. Donor advisors and designated funds contribute an additional $500,000 or more a year to support these and other education programs they identify.

See for yourself our most recent Education and Early Learning grants.