FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE
Date: June 15, 2000
Number: nr 00-11
Contact: Nan Powers Varoga, 713-658-1881, ext. 14
nvaroga@houstonaplus.org
Houston A+, Houston ISD Awarded Prestigious National
Grant
Partnership Wins $250,000 for High School Reform
Two well known Houston foundations have awarded the Houston A+ Challenge a total of $1 million for its work to improve Houston area public schools.
The M.D. Anderson Foundation and The Gordon and Mary Cain Foundation each has awarded the Challenge $500,000.
"Support from these foundations is a testament to the good work we are doing in the public schools in the Greater Houston area," said Jenard Gross, chairman of the Development Committee of the Houston A+ Challenge Board of Trustees and head of Gross Investments.
The Houston A+ Challenge is a $60 million, not-for-profit public, private partnership directing the largest single sum of private money ever dedicated to public school reform in the Greater Houston area. The Challenge funds school programs and leadership institutes to promote higher
Entering its second full year, the Challenge began when philanthropist and former U.S. Ambassador Walter Annenberg donated $20 million to Houston in the form of a one-for-two matching grant. Since then, the Houston Endowment and The Brown Foundation each has pledged $10 million. The Challenge has begun a fundraising campaign to raise the final $20 million of its funding.
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