Center for Creative Education Endowment Fund

Mission
Transforming teaching and learning through creativity and the arts.

Vision
To be a leader in transforming educational environments and systems to better prepare students to meet the challenges and opportunities of the 21^st century with courage and confidence.

History
In the early 1990s, the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County raised the alarm about the countywide trend to defund arts education in schools. They commissioned research funded in part by the MacArthur Foundation and the Chastain Charitable Foundation that led to the establishment of a non-profit, 501(c)(3), corporation called the Center for Creative Education (CCE) in 1995. CCE was formed for:

“…the advancement of education and other charitable purposes, and particularly for the enhancement of tax supported public education, and the specific and primary purpose for which this corporation was founded” (CCE’s Articles of Incorporation, 1995)

CCE could not replace those teachers in music, visual arts, dance and theater. Our innovative solution was to help community artists restore creativity to these classrooms by integrating the arts into core curriculums. CCE transformed artists into “teaching ” artists who collaborated with classroom teachers to demonstrate how creativity and the arts could benefit the learning process for all students. This collaborative, professional development model continues to be one of the most impactful advancements that CCE has given to the School District of Palm Beach County.

Overview

The Foundations School at CCE is a K-5 independent school focused on improving literacy and grade-level performance. We aim to serve students who are living in poverty, are behind academically, and are zoned to attend schools that perform poorly on state standardized testing. At the end of the 2022-2023 school year, 89% of third graders at The Foundations School were reading on or above grade level compared to 21.5% in surrounding schools.

The school uses a sliding fee scale to determine family contributions to tuition and applies significant scholarships to cover the balance. Most of our families only pay $50 per year to attend The Foundations School; the remaining balance we cover through state scholarships and donations from individuals, foundations, and corporations.

We aim to address the educational crisis plaguing our nation by creating a scalable model that can be replicated in any school setting. To help us reach this goal, we work with education and art majors from local universities to teach them our unique approach by doing their pre-service work at The Foundations School. We are also in conversation with the School District of Palm Beach County so that we can give all students the tools to be successful in their education and their lives.

Visit the Center for Creative Education’s website HERE.