Archived Posts
10/3/2025
2025 Panther Pajama Run
On Saturday, November 8, 2025, the Foundation will be hosting our 15th fall fundraiser and community event – the Panther Pajama Run.
This family-friendly community event consists of a 5K Race and a 1.2-mile Family Fun Walk. Proceeds from the Panther Run are used to fund priority projects that benefit WSSD schools and to support the fiscal partnerships with key organizations that are committed to the betterment of the entire school district. Click here to learn more!
5/8/2012
How Foundations are trying to help
A very topical segment from NPR’s “Talk of the Nation”:
After years of cuts to public school budgets across the country, many districts are relying on parents to pay for classroom supplies, extracurricular activities and even teacher salaries.
Listen to the story at npr.org
5/31/2011
New Foundation to Support Wallingford-Swarthmore Schools
Foundation will seek private funds to support the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District
Can private funding help maintain excellent public education in the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District (WSSD)? “Yes,” say community members who have collaborated to launch the Foundation for Wallingford-Swarthmore Schools.
The Foundation is dedicated to sustaining the high quality of its schools even in a time of increasing budget pressures, by developing fundraising for special projects and programs that could not be realized otherwise.
“Foundations are playing an increasing role in the country’s best public schools,” said WSSD Superintendent Rich Noonan, who has worked with educational foundations in other districts during his career as an educator. “Expectations in our district are very high, but we also have the varied expertise, talents, and resources to realize success in creating a permanent Foundation.”
A planning group has convened since December 2010, meeting with school officials and other professionals, under the guidance of Bob New of the Mid-Atlantic Consortium for Educational Foundations in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The Foundation has since adopted bylaws and elected a working board and officers. The IRS has granted nonprofit 501(c)(3) status, and the Foundation for Wallingford-Swarthmore Schools is now a United Way donor option.
Swarthmore resident Martha “Frannie” Reilly, an attorney who works with nonprofit organizations, has agreed to serve as Foundation President.
“In my professional life, I see how important foundations are becoming to public schools,” Reilly said. “As the mother of young children who are about to enter our schools, I am delighted to be part of a foundation that will benefit students in this district.”
Reilly encourages anyone interested in the work of the Foundation to attend its next meeting on June 7 at 7:00 p.m. in the Strath Haven Middle School Library. Volunteers are needed for the committees – Communications, Grants, Development, and Special Events – and also in the areas of accounting, auditing, technology, and grant writing.
The Foundation will work in tandem with PTOs and other groups also raising funds, and has been enthusiastically received by school leaders. SHHS Principal Mary Jo Yannacone is “thrilled with the idea of this foundation.”
“This could not be happening at a better time,” reflects SHMS’ George King. Echoing the sentiments of other elementary school principals, WES’s Ellen Milgrim is “really excited about the possibilities for this foundation.”
School Board President Mary Gay Scanlon says the Board “supports the establishment of the Foundation, and its individual members plan to donate to and volunteer for Foundation activities.”
The Foundation is developing a comprehensive fundraising plan, reaching out to community residents, alumni, and corporate neighbors, holding a signature event each fall, and seeking additional funds through grants and other sources. Board member Beth DeBruyn is coordinating the Foundation’s fundraising and reports.
“We are now seeking seed money as well as volunteers,” DeBruyn said. “Please visit our website at www.supportwssd.org and get involved.”
As the Foundation for Wallingford-Swarthmore Schools grows, it will implement an annual process wherein teachers and other school personnel can submit requests for the Foundation to fund projects of their design. With approval from its board, the Foundation can also serve as the nonprofit recipient of donations for other projects throughout the district, even if it does not directly seek funds for them.
An example of a project the Foundation would like to fund is expanding the robotics program, so that robotics could become an extracurricular option in all district schools. The State of Pennsylvania has granted approval for the Foundation to seek funds for this project from corporations and other businesses qualifying for the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC), which can make it easy and almost costless for these organizations to give.
“I have sought funding from businesses through the EITC program in the past and it worked well,” said Foundation Vice President Allison Karpyn of Wallingford. “Businesses that enroll get access to a tax credit and children get access to great resources. Right now, we just need community members to help make these contacts.”
There are more than 6,000 education foundations operating nationally; Lower Merion, Radnor, and Haddonfield are among local districts that have foundations.
For more information on the Foundation for Wallingford-Swarthmore Schools, visit www.supportwssd.org.