The Edgemont School Foundation is excited to announce that along with the four EHS math classrooms we committed to funding last summer, ESF is now able to fund two additional math classrooms that will be outfitted in the same innovative fashion. All six classrooms will be turned into Math Thinking Labs with flexible seating, movable desks, and rolling whiteboards that will allow students to collaborate more and stay continuously engaged.
Please support ESF so that we may continue to support our students!
On Wednesday, September 10th, the Edgemont School Foundation (ESF) hosted a ribbon cutting event in the newly renovated and upgraded EHS auditorium for district families and community members. Please enjoy photos from the event and if able, donate to help support future efforts.
The Edgemont School Foundation is proud to have funded a standing desk pilot program in Ms. Lim’s 2nd grade classroom at Seely Place.
Ms. Lim outlines how she plans to incorporate the standing desks in her classroom: “We are using them to create small partnership or group work areas. At the start of independent work, students check in with how they are feeling and have the opportunity to request a standing desk. We maintain a daily checklist to track which students have used the desks, as part of our flexible seating options.
Since we began using the standing desks, we’ve noticed significant improvements in both handwriting quality and overall focus. Students seem more engaged with their work, and the flexibility of the standing desks appears to support their learning and concentration. Students have also taken ownership of their learning and understanding their needs.”
The students have noted the benefits from the new desks as well, stating: “They make me have better handwriting” and “It helps me come closer to the board and see the board better. I am able to focus better.”
Please help us continue to fund projects like this by donating. DONATE HERE!
The state provides aid under a number of categories, but by far the most important and material bucket is Foundation Aid. The state’s allocations of Foundation Aid to school districts is intended to ensure that all districts in the state have the necessary resources to ensure all students receive a “sound basic education” as required by the state constitution. The formula for calculating Foundation Aid is overly complex; however, what is important to note that the two primary drivers of the differences in aid received amongst schools are:
Expected Minimum Local Contribution (i.e., the relative wealth of the community), based on a computed tax rate or local share formula that utilizes an income wealth index and a local tax factor.
Total Aidable Foundation Pupil Units (i.e., enrollment).
In short, the higher the income wealth index the lower the proportional share of the Foundation Aid pot. Conversely, the lower the enrollment, the lower the proportional share of the Foundation Aid pot. Edgemont has a high income wealth index and a mid to low enrollment total. As a result, we receive less aid than neighboring districts who rate differently on these metrics.
Up through the 2023-24 academic year, we saw an increase in the percentage of our revenue budget stemming from state aid. Namely, an increase from 6% of the budget in 2014-15 to 12% of the budget in 2023-24. This is most closely attributed to the state’s commitment to fully fund districts based on the approved Foundation Aid formula. As a result, we saw a 56% increase in our Foundation Aid allocations in two years. That was the last significant increase as we are now “fully funded.” As you can see from the table below, we have now dropped to 10% of our yearly operating budget coming from state aid.
Year
Budget
Foundation Aid
Total State Aid
Aid as % of Budget
2026
$ 73, 994,549
$ 5,040,231
$ 7,642,718
10%
2025
$ 72,118,709
$ 4,941,403
$ 7,319,762
10%
2024
$ 69,374,373
$ 4,869,652
$ 8,076,495
12%
2023
$ 67,026,024
$ 3,541,218
$ 6,587,323
10%
2022
$ 65,251,389
$ 2,546,644
$ 5,163,310
8%
2021
$ 63,616,332
$ 2,103,877
$ 4,563,118
7%
2020
$ 61,048,737
$ 2,104,103
$ 4,378,532
7%
2019
$ 59,129,371
$ 2,078,729
$ 4,571,279
8%
2018
$ 57,092,835
$ 2,028,138
$ 4,479,340
8%
2017
$ 55,512,470
$ 1,960,263
$ 4,059,081
7%
2016
$ 54,104,349
$ 1,960,259
$ 3,669,817
7%
2015
$ 53,149,102
$ 1,944,439
$ 3,354,471
6%
Neighboring districts like Ardsley, White Plains, Hastings, and Elmsford receive between 14% and 17.2% of their budget from State Aid. Every dollar counts!
We are very thankful you would like to donate to the Foundation and help support Edgemont students. Please see the array of ways we can accept donations: 1) Credit card:www.edgemontschoolfoundation.org/donate
2) Stock donations: Gifts of publicly traded securities that have appreciated in value allow you to avoid capital gains taxes while also receiving a tax deduction for your gift. The Foundation benefits by selling the stock without paying taxes on the gain, and you benefit from making a contribution that would be larger than what you might have been able to donate in cash.
The following are the DTC instructions for the Edgemont School Foundation for transfer of stock to the Foundation’s Advisor, Onyx Bridge Wealth Group, that clears through Charles Schwab.
DTC# 0164 Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Account # 8150-1532 Account Name: Edgemont School Foundation Reference: (name of donor)
Before a transfer of stock is made, we request that you please notify us at (info@edgemontschoolfoundation.org) with the name(s) of stock(s), number of shares, and gift designation(s) so we may monitor our account for the expected transfer and process your gift accurately.
3) Corporate Matching: Many companies will match your personal donation through their own donation program. Please inquire with your employer to see if this is an option for you. We have accounts with CyberGrants, Benevity Matching Grants, and EasyMatch.
4) Estate Planning: Please keep the Edgemont School Foundation in mind when planning your future and estate.
5) Check: All checks may be mailed to: PO Box 1154, Scarsdale, NY 10583
Groups of 7th grade math students presented their classroom redesigns in May to administrators, teachers and the Edgemont School Foundation board members. The redesign the best represented a modern Edgemont classroom given mathematical parameters was selected and the classroom furniture was ordered! Please see below for images and quotes from teachers using the new innovative teaching space in D5.
“I would say that having chairs with wheels is a big help even though I was worried about the kids rolling around. It is easy for them to turn and see the white board or the promethean, as well as to turn and face anyone who is speaking. The desks are a little larger than the old desks. It’s helpful for the students to have a little extra space for a textbook or chromebook. And everybody loves to work at a whiteboard table. We’ve gone through more than our share of Expo markers!” – From the teacher of the D5
Quotes from students:
“The furniture allows for group work, and chairs with wheels help a lot because moving a little and fidgeting a little allows you to think better. The whiteboard tables are especially my favorite, because you are able to write on them and do math problems on them. The shape of the regular desks is also really nice, because contrary to a regular square desk, these allow for a better way of placing things and more space.”
“The whiteboard tables allow for a space to write and interact with the surroundings of the classroom. It gives a break from boring seatings and makes it more fun to learn in my opinion.”
“The quality of the new furniture helps me to stay focused, I’m my other classes I’m playing with how wobbly the desks are. But these desks are adjustable so I don’t have that problem.”
“Having flexible furniture makes me happier because I enjoy the learning environment.”
What do the students like about D5 now:
“It is spacious and allows for everyone to move around.”
“I enjoy the color of the tables/chairs and the moving chairs.”
“I like the whiteboard tables.”
“The colors. The pastel green and beige match well and also the chairs and desks are so comfortable. Also, Mrs. Reinmuths plants make the classroom look so bright and relaxed.”
“Flexible and creative seating.”
“I like the fact that there are multiple whiteboard tables”
“I enjoy the whiteboard tables because I could write down notes and other thoughts that I don’t need to write down on my paper.”
From Jen Borella and Jeremy Levin, SP 4th grade teachers: Our Poetry Podcast Day was a huge success. Their journey began weeks ago in reading as we started talking about poetry, looking at elements of poetry and reading poetry to understand meaning. Last week our class began writing their own pieces and then shared them with their 8th grade EHS poetry coaches, with support from Ms. Cecere, EHS English teacher. Our students and the 8th graders collaborated through google doc to support the editing process. This was a valuable experience and we saw the excitement as they were given feedback from someone other than their teachers!
8th graders made the trip by bus to Seely Place to support our students with the poem layout and recording of their podcast. Watching this collaborative process was extremely rewarding for both myself and Mr. Levin as we saw our vision come to life from the grant we wrote this year.
The Edgemont School Foundation purchased the high quality microphones we used for this project in order to support our creative and “think outside the box” approach to learning. Student Quotes: 4th Grader Maya Fenyves: “The podcast experience was so cool. Having the chance to use the microphones was a once in a lifetime opportunity. They made my voice louder and were so exciting to use. I loved making my own Podcast, my dad listens to them so it was fun to make one.”
4th Grader Mason Rothman: “The microphones made my voice louder and let me put my poem sound better and more quality to my poem.”
8th Grader Gabriel Hwang: “My poetry podcast experience was a blast! It was great to bond with and help out some fourth grade students. The whole process of recording and editing was such a wonderful journey! I would totally recommend this for future eighth and fourth graders! It was spectacular.”
8th Grader Celina Spearing: Our 8th-grade field trip to Seely was just as you’d expect! The 4th graders were eager to meet us. We helped them revise/edit their poems as well as helped them record. Everything was perfect as both we and the 4th graders were on their best behavior. Ms. Borella was also an amazing hostess to us and helped answer any questions we may have had. Overall, this was a great experience and I would definitely sign up for it again!
