Grants Awarded

The REF completed a four-year, $800,000 grant request made by Dr. Bormann and the Board of Education for the purchase of flexible furniture for the Deane-Porter and Forrestdale Schools. 

Thanks to this wonderful community and in conjunction with the Board of Education’s classroom renovations, the students and teachers now have new mobile desks, cubbies, bookshelves, storage cabinets, writable cloud tables, marker boards, stackable Oodle stools and more!

"One of my big goals this year was to take our already amazing art program and incorporate an in depth digital art component. Students have been exploring the use of shape, color theory, transparency, photo editing, and other digital techniques. Please see a few work samples attached to this email. The addition of cameras opens the doors to us to explore the world of digital photography. When the weather gets warm, I will begin to pilot some photography work with a few of my classes, before implementing it school wide at the end of this year, beginning of next year. The cameras will allow us for the first time to explore and create a digital photography program within our growing program." - Matthew Miranda, Forrestdale Art Educator

Opened in 2023 and located by the Deane-Porter science rooms, this modern outdoor classroom is available for all students at Deane-Porter. This facility will enrich our science and STEM agriculture programs. The circular seating instills a sense of belonging and encourages all students to participate and the awning covering provides shade protection. 

Opened in 2021 and located between the 4th and 7th grade wings at Forrestdale, lies an innovative outdoor classroom funded by members of our school community. The classroom is situated next to the greenhouse and REF funded aquaponics lab, mushroom farm and apple orchard, enriching our science and agriculture STEM curriculum. 

Interactive white boards were installed in all classrooms in 2019-2020. This was a multiple phase grant totalling over $300,000.

The Aquaponics program is up and running, enhancing the Science curriculum for multiple grades.