ANDOVER - The Andover Coalition for Education hopes school supporters will be in the giving spirit this season.
The private fundraising organization has mailed letters to every household in town, more than 12,000, as part of its first appeal for money to support new school programs. The letters and accompanying brochures also highlight ACE's accomplishments this year.
"We're hoping that this will be a way of informing everyone - not just parents with children in our schools - that we exist, we have existed for a year now and we have had successes," Executive Director Tina Girdwood said.
The coalition raised $75,000 this year to hire a grants coordinator for the School Department and help pay for the expeditionary learning curriculum at Wood Hill Middle School - an interdisciplinary program that uses hands-on projects like archaeological digs to help students learn.
ACE is committed to supporting the grants coordinator position and expeditionary learning again next year, Girdwood said. New initiatives include funding an engineering program at Doherty Middle School and making engineering a bigger part of the elementary-school science curriculum.
"This is going to make such a difference for the kids in Andover," School Committee member Arthur Barber said.
The coalition's board members work closely with school administrators to best meet their needs, Girdwood said. All money will pay for specific pilot programs - not the schools' operating budget.
"With tight budgets, these sorts of opportunities are not easy to find," Girdwood said. "To remain a top-notch school system, you've got to find the resources and the funding," she said.
Barber and School Committee Chairman Anthony James first conceptualized ACE three years ago, and they brought Girdwood, a former School Committee member, on board as the volunteer chief earlier this year. The coalition's supporters raised most of their initial money by soliciting donations from friends and associates.
The ACE Board of Advisors includes Sen. Susan Tucker, Reps. Barry Finegold and Barbara L'Italien, police Chief Brian Pattullo, fire Chief Charles Murnane and Merrimack College President Richard Santagati.
Barber, James and Girdwood modeled the coalition on similar organizations in Newton, Wellesley, Lexington, Brookline, Winchester and other communities. Some districts have had such foundations for as many as 20 years.
