HSA Presidents
Carolyn Kaufmann &
Rebecca Gaertner

The Home and School Association (HSA) is the direct link between Arthur families and student life at Arthur. We work to connect and excite Chester Arthur families, teachers and staff with school activities such as a Fall & Spring movie night; a monthly student of the month breakfast; teacher, guidance counselor & administrator appreciation days; PSSA moral support; support for 8th grade move-up activities; a spring Fun Day; and an end-of-year celebration for all Arthur families.

The HSA is also FoCA’s partner in the school. Both organizations regularly collaborate to assist Arthur’s amazing teachers and staff in their efforts to ensure a fun and safe educational experience for all Arthur students.

-Carolyn Kaufmann & Rebecca Gaertner,
HSA Co-Presidents

FoCA Night Out

FoCA Night Out 2019 was a terrific success. With a record number of supporters in attendance, FoCA raised more than $95,000 to support academic and extracurricular programming at Chester Arthur. During the live appeal alone, FoCA raised more than $10,000 for new audio/visual equipment for the Arthur auditorium. The evening was a resounding success due to the generosity of community members, and the support of businesses and individuals through sponsorships and auction item donations. FoCA could not be more grateful for the generosity and overwhelmingly positive feedback we received from supporters of the event. So mark your calendars for FoCA Night Out 2020, which will take place at the Trinity Center for Urban Life on March 14, 2020! 

SWCC 5k

Neither rain nor wind could dampen spirits at the 2018 SWCC 5k! Thanks to the tireless efforts of the SWCC 5k volunteer network, the 5k, Monster Mile (for kids over 6) and Spooky Sprint (for the littles) all went smoothly despite the weather. Part of what makes this event so special is the partnership between Stanton Community Partners and Friends of Chester Arthur. Proceeds from the race, FoCA’s half of which was close to $17,000,  were shared between our two organizations and thereby support public education at both Stanton Elementary and Chester Arthur.  

Annual Appeal

Every winter, we extend a call for support to the Arthur community. In 2018, our annual appeal raised $30,000 -- critical funding that flowed directly to the school to support programming for students like robotics and drama, investments in instructional technology, and professional development for teachers. Thank you to each and every donor who generously supported our mission—you made a difference in the lives of all Arthur students!

Investment Highlight—Playworks

Playworks continues to provide a robust recess experience for Arthur students. Playworks coaches bring myriad resources to Arthur that help our students engage constructively on the schoolyard. Through  physical activity that builds both social and emotional skills, Arthur students grow through play.

Investment Highlight —Teacher Coaching

FoCA funded a math coach from Carnegie Learning, Inc. at Arthur during the 2018-2019 academic year. Since Arthur began working with Carnegie teacher coaches in 2015, student test scores in math have consistently improved. The math coach was onsite twelve times throughout the year to help teachers plan, deliver, and reflect on their math instruction.

Investment Highlight — Inquiry Based Learning

FoCA continued to support professional and curriculum development for Arthur teachers during the 2018-2019 academic year through its William Penn Foundation grant, which FoCA secured in 2015. The College of New Jersey Center for Excellence in STEM has been working with Arthur teachers since the 2016-2017 academic year and has supported hands-on, inquiry driven learning both in the classroom and on the schoolyard.

Arthur Schoolyard Cleanup & Planting Days

Hundreds of community volunteers helped us to plant and spruce up the schoolyard this year. In addition to Comcast Cares Day, where over 100 volunteers joined us in our efforts to paint parts of the interior of the school as well as weed and pick up trash in the schoolyard, FoCA held a Fall Cleanup in September 2018 to prepare the schoolyard for the new school year - which included newly painted exterior doors - and a Spring Cleanup in May of 2019 to ready the schoolyard for spring, which included new trees, new plants and a lot of weeding!

Lil FoCA Annual Triangles Event

FoCA once again partnered with local businesses to host an event geared toward our younger friends in the neighborhood.  Dozens of children and their families joined us in the Grays Ferry Triangle for an afternoon of books, music and learning made fun with local favorite Baby Wordplay and the always popular Lara & Joe Show.

REVENUE

Corporate/
Organizational Giving/Other

$3,856

Individual Giving

$42,446

Events

$88,077

Grants

$69,000

_____________________________

Revenues Total

$203,380

This year at Arthur, FoCA volunteers painted stairwells, hallways and doors, organized and built out the music room and improved outdoor spaces. We planted three new birch trees in the schoolyard and installed new perennial plants on the green wall, while dead trees were removed from the Catharine and Webster Street courtyards.

Volunteers from the men’s service group at the neighborhood Church of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith painted hallways on the second and third floors of the school.

And at Comcast Cares Day, 112 volunteers from Comcast and the community, plus Arthur teachers and staff, painted the first floor hallway and lobby, organized closets, and weeded and spruced up the school’s outdoor spaces. 

 A grant from the William Penn Foundation funded FoCA’s continued maintenance of the schoolyard and funded the schoolyard’s new fencing, bike racks and trash cans. Design of a new music recital and outdoor classroom space in the Catharine Street courtyard, also funded by the William Penn Foundation, is underway with installation planned for 2020.  

In addition, FoCA held its spring and fall volunteer clean-ups -- along with bi-weekly “Weeding Wednesdays” in the summer -- that kept our schoolyard looking great.

One

We welcomed our new principal, Dr. Libby, to Chester Arthur!

Two

FoCA Night Out raised over $95,000, a record amount for FNO!

Nine graduating middle school students were accepted to special admission schools.

We celebrated years of exemplary teaching as retiring teachers Susan Meyers & Tom Cogan left with a grand send-off.

The College of New Jersey Center for Excellence in STEM Education completed its third year of professional and curriculum development at Arthur. Arthur’s PSSA science scores have gone from 29% Below Basic, 37% Basic, 27% Proficient and 7% Advanced in the 2016-2017 school year to 17% Below Basic, 30% Basic, 38% Proficient and 15% Advanced in the 2018-2019 school year.

For the first time in decades, music education was funded full-time throughout the school year for all Arthur students. 

Suggestions or Comments?

We couldn't do any of this without the volunteer and financial support of our great neighborhood. It takes a village and we're lucky to have such a diverse community with many different resources to bring to the table to invest in our school and our neighborhood as a whole. If you've have suggestions or would like to get involved with the Friends of Chester Arthur Elementary, please send us a note below!

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