Indian Prairie Educational Foundation

The Indian Prairie Educational Foundation (IPEF) began in 1988 as a partner to Indian Prairie School District 204 to support academic excellence and fine arts programs. Throughout its 35-year history, IPEF has expanded its focus to respond to the changing educational landscape and the needs of IPSD 204 students while continuing to support the Fine Arts in IPSD 204. IPEF's mission is to enrich education for students by supporting their academic, artistic, emotional, and physical needs. The goal of the Foundation is to build and sustain programs that help students achieve success through unique opportunities and exposure to inspiring possibilities.

IPEF funds educational enrichment, health, and social services programs that benefit the 26,000 students and 3,000 staff members of Indian Prairie School District 204, as well as programs for targeted groups of students and their families who are in need of additional support. Programs that serve all district students include: 1) Fine Arts programs, including masterclasses, schoolwide holiday concerts, and the district's annual Fine Arts Festival which includes an average of 80 musical performances featuring 9,000student musicians and 12,000 pieces of preK-12 artwork representing students from all 33 district schools. 2) STEM education programs and Robotics clubs, 3) Teacher Innovation Grants to promote new ideas in the classroom, 4) the biennial free cardiac screenings program available in all three high schools, which has screened over 39,000 students to date.

Over the past 7 years, IPEF has expanded its programs to focus on the social-emotional, academic, and physical needs of IPSD 204’s growing at-risk and low-income student population. These include: 1) Mental Health Supports, which have provided individual counseling services to ~1,400 students, 2) Valley Runway that promotes the confidence and self-esteem of financially challenged students by providing the means for them to attend formal social events with their peers, and 3) Kid Essentials that provides emergency support and assistance to families in crisis, targeting the district's low-income and homeless population.