Waukesha Education Foundation - Grants & Scholarships

Where Does the Money Go?

The Foundation Board has set a goal of raising a permanent endowment of over a million dollars for for the purpose of funding grants and scholarships for students in the Waukesha School District. The philosophy behind an endowment fund is that approximately half of the yearly investment earnings are distributed as grants and scholarships, leaving the principal investment untouched to grow and to continue to fund creative programs for years to come. A one million dollar endowment would allow us to award approximately $50,000 in grants and scholarships each year. So far, the Foundation has collected over $500,000 towards our endowment goal.

Awarding Grants

Each year in the early spring, the Waukesha Education Foundation receives grant applications from teachers, administrators and staff with proposals for programs for the following school year. The grants are reviewed by a sub-committee of the Foundation Board with input from the District to ensure proposed programs are consistent with District curricula and policies. The grant requests are then reviewed against the following criteria and objectives:

That they be of a dollar amount that is reasonable to fund given the dollars available to fund grants
That the programs have a clear objective that is aligned with the target areas of funding for the Foundation
That there be evidence of need for the programs
That the programs be in alignment with District standards and policies
That there be clear measures of success for the programs
That in total, programs impact as many kids in the district as possible
That to the extent possible, the grants be spread across grade level, school and department within the district
That to the extent possible, the grants be spread considering schools and programs that have received awards in past years
That the grants are not funding activities that should be covered by on-going district operating budgets

Recommendations are made to the full Foundation Board for approval at the May Board meeting, and grant awards for the following school year are then announced.

Click here to download a copy of our Grant Application

Grant Award Winners

The Waukesha Education Foundation made its initial grant awards for the 2004-2005 school year, and has increased the number of grants and the dollars awarded for each subsequent school year. To date, the Foundation has awarded over $75,000 in grants to almost 50 programs to nearly every school in the District.

View the grants awarded for each year below!

Principal honored with new scholarship fund

By Joe Petrie Freeman Staff

WAUKESHA – As Randall Elementary School finishes up its final year as a traditional school, parents, students and staff are saying goodbye to the school community that has been in place for decades.

The closure and repurposing of the school also means the tenure of Randall Principal Bonnie Schlais will come to an end as she will move to Hillcrest Elementary School in the 2010-11 school year. But before she can leave, Randall staff and families are working to honor her forever with the establishment of the Bonnie Schlais Scholarship Fund.

“She has serviced the community for more than 43 years and we thought it would be a wonderful way to honor her,” Randall fourth-grade teacher Denise Jaeger said. “It’s a wonderful way to honor her years in education and her work.”

The scholarship will be run through the Waukesha Education Foundation and will award students money to pay for post-secondary education. David Schultz, president of the Waukesha County Community Foundation, which handles the money for WEF, said the awards will be given in preference to students at any of the three Waukesha School District high schools that attended Randall or Saratoga Elementary School.

Although the fund was only started about a month ago, Schultz said more than 100 donations have come in, many which are from former and current Randall staff and families.

“For me that’s evidence of how much respect these donors have for Bonnie Schlais and her commitment to the schools,” he said. “The whole thing is just a great story.”

Randall parent Kris Lombardi, who organized the scholarship with Jaeger, said they are close to the $10,000 goal needed to begin offering the scholarship to students as soon as 2011.

“Randall is kind of a unique, eclectic school with a lot of different personalities and it’s a lot of fun to be a part of,” Lombardi said. “I’ve really appreciated her desire to try and do different things to get everyone to excel.”

Schlais said she has been taken aback by the whole idea of doing a scholarship in her name and is honored to receive such a gift.

“It was just an awesome idea,” she said. “Like Hallmark says, it’s the gift that keeps on giving.”

If you'd like to send a donation, send it to WEF at 2727 North Grandview Boulevard, Suite 122
Waukesha, WI 53188 and reference the Bonnie Schlais Scholarship Fund.

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