New Public-Private Partnership for A+ Schools

A+ Schools of North Carolina Receives $3 million in State and Private Funding

A new endowment will help bring A+ Schools to more students in North Carolina.

The board and staff of the NC Arts Foundation are excited to share the news that support for A+ Schools of North Carolina has greatly increased with the passage of the state budget. An enhanced partnership between private funders and state government will help bring sustainability to the A+ program, which has received accolades at the national, state, and local levels for its success in utilizing the arts to encourage innovation and collaboration in the teaching of the state-mandated curriculum.

The Arts Foundation approached Windgate Foundation earlier this year to discuss the stability and future growth of A+ Schools. A longtime champion of the program, Windgate responded by offering significant funding support if the state would increase its annual appropriation. When we communicated this opportunity to legislators, several of whom have witnessed the impact of A+ Schools, they stepped forward to meet this challenge.

The 2023-2024 biennial budget approved by the General Assembly raises the state appropriation for A+ Schools to $750,000 in each of the next two years. This new funding triggers the release of $1.5 million from Windgate Foundation. Of this amount, $1,000,000 will be used to establish an endowment for A+ Schools at the North Carolina Community Foundation. The remaining $500,000 is a challenge grant to other private sector donors to increase the new endowment, which will provide ongoing support and underwrite part of the costs of expanding the program’s services to schools, students, and teachers across the state.

A+ Schools of North Carolina exists through the extraordinary efforts of many individuals and organizations. The North Carolina Arts Foundation salutes the vision of those who established A+ Schools in 1995, including Vincent Marron, Jeanne Butler, Tom Kenan, and the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts.

Our foundation thanks the North Carolina Arts Council, which integrated A+ Schools into the agency in 2010 as one of its signature programs and worked to stabilize and grow the program. Kudos to the A+ Schools staff, led by Michelle Burrows, for their outstanding work over many years, and to the many teachers, administrators and artists who have utilized their talents and creativity to realize the potential of the A+ philosophy, which is simply that the arts are fundamental to teaching and learning.

Finally, deep appreciation is due to Arts North Carolina, the statewide advocacy organization for the arts, for including funding for A+ Schools among its legislative requests.

The North Carolina Arts Foundation is now launching the campaign to match Windgate’s challenge grant for the A+ Schools endowment. We seek private sector partners who value the transformative experiences that A+ Schools creates in the classroom. Please consider helping the A+ Schools program reach more of our youth in North Carolina.