Walton Family Foundation Gives $1.3 Million To Public School Groups

The Walton Family Foundation has granted two organizations $1.3 million in an effort aimed at the state’s K-12 schools.

The Arkansas Advanced Initiative for Math and Science (AAIMS) and Arkansas Tech University’s Center for Executive Leadership (ACEL) Leader-to-Leader (L2L) program will receive funds to increase the academic performance of the state’s students.

Arkansas Advanced Initiative for Math and Science (AAIMS) will receive $875,000 to continue growing the number of Advanced Placement (AP) classes available to low-income and minority populations. This two-year grant will help the group increase enrollment in AP Math, Science, and English courses with the ultimate goal of increasing the number of qualifying scores on these exams. Previous foundation support for AAIMS is more than $2.9 million.

The second organization, Arkansas Tech University Center for Executive Leadership (ACEL) Leader-to-Leader (L2L) program, will receive more than $450,000 to continue work in developing strong district and school leaders for Arkansas public schools. The program promotes creative thinking and problem solving by Arkansas’ school administrators. With this investment, the foundation has now supported the program with more than $2.5 million in grants since 2007.

“The economic well-being of our state depends upon the ability to create an environment where every child in Arkansas has access to a high-quality, publicly funded education,” said Kathy Smith, senior program officer for the foundation’s Arkansas Education Reform initiative. “We believe in preparing students for success with a quality education. When you do, academic expectations grow, graduation rates rise and the standard of living improves. Arkansas has made significant gains in education and we will continue to invest in programs that help raise the academic bar.”