KIDS

Transforming Education

At the Caldwell Family Foundation, our mission when it comes to kids and education is simple: We focus on providing the support and systems to help low-income or at risk students achieve their full potential. Our view is that all students deserve access to a high-quality education. We focus on three key ingredients: Innovative Programs, Entrepreneurial Leverage and Supply / Support advocacy. Innovative Programs

Constant Math: One of the problems facing children, especially at risk, low income, or English as a Second Language (ESL) children, is the wide range in different math education approaches. Some studies have linked frequent training method changes with poor performance.

The Caldwell Family Foundation is proud to have launched a 5-year study program in partnership with the Skaggs Catholic Center in Draper, UT to implement and test the positive benefits of a single, constant math teaching approach in grades K-12. The goal of the program is to use a relatively controlled environment to measure the (hopefully) improved math grade level acceleration and testing driven by a unified approach across elementary, middle, and high school students.

Real Diplomas: Studies have shown that there is a direct link between achieving high school graduation and the relative cost to society a young person represent. Put simply, high school graduates commit less crime, pay more taxes, and use less public assistance than high school drop outs. The scary part is that in many cases, kids drop out of school due to family, financial, or other circumstances beyond their control.

We are excited to have launched in the fall of 2014 an innovative partnership program between The Boys and Girls Club of South Valley (Utah), Graduation Alliance (a private company), and the several Salt Lake Valley School Districts. Under this program, students who have dropped out of high school and meet Boys & Girls Club criteria will receive a Graduation Alliance Scholarship to complete their high school education under a closely monitored remote learning program. Students then earn their diploma from their local high school and can even walk with their class!

The long term goal of this program is to prove the educational model and seek a wider public private partnership to leverage existing State monies to achieve better long term success results.

Explorers: The Caldwell Family Foundation has partnered with the Sandy City Police Explorers Post (under the banner of the Boy Scouts of America) to help underwrite the cost of their annual summer training academy. This event is focused on helping kids who are interested in law enforcement (many of whom are on the razor's edge between being good or bad kids) get hands on training from agencies around Utah. Explorers attend from Utah, Idaho, California, and even as far away as Ohio.

Entrepreneurial Leverage: If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach him to fish, he can eat for a lifetime. The Caldwell Family Foundation has supported the Cause for Hope charity in its efforts to help train poverty stricken families learn a trade they can use to earn their way into a better life. The resulting growth in income, savings, living conditions, and overall prosperity is amazing.