Education Innovation & Essentials

Impact Stories

Expanding Access to an Excellent Education

Educational experiences for underserved students remain substantially unequal, resulting in lower high school and college completion rates, along with lagging career readiness. The Tuchman Family Foundation has partnered with University Prep since 2017, funding its continued expansion to provide more students access to an excellent education and a path to a life of opportunity. 


With academic excellence for every child as the cornerstone of its work, University Prep is a tuition-free, K-5 public charter school network that offers its scholars college-prep content as well as the support and encouragement they need to master it. To that end, the schools layer on values of pride, responsibility, enthusiasm, and perseverance while also exposing students to a range of colleges and careers. University Prep currently serves 700 students with plans to expand to additional communities serving hundreds more students in the near future.


Expanding access to an excellent education

Educational experiences for underserved students remain substantially unequal, resulting in lower high school and college completion rates, along with lagging career readiness. The Tuchman Family Foundation has partnered with University Prep since 2017, funding its continued expansion to provide more students access to an excellent education and a path to a life of opportunity. 


With academic excellence for every child as the cornerstone of its work, University Prep is a tuition-free, K-5 public charter school network that offers its scholars college-prep content as well as the support and encouragement they need to master it. To that end, the schools layer on values of pride, responsibility, enthusiasm, and perseverance while also exposing students to a range of colleges and careers. University Prep currently serves 700 students with plans to expand to additional communities serving hundreds more students in the near future. 


Results

University Prep converted an existing
Denver charter school, transforming it 

from lowest ranked to 91st  percentile

for performance in a single school year


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Maximizing Student Potential

Breakthrough Collaborative addresses two drivers of the U.S. education crisis: unequal access to quality education for students and a shortage of qualified teachers.


The Tuchman Family Foundation supports Breakthrough at Kent Denver in offering summer and school-year programs for highly motivated but underserved Denver and Englewood middle and high school students. 


The Breakthrough program offers students six full years of academic support, peer mentoring and college counseling, free of charge to their families, putting these scholars on the path to college. Simultaneously, it provides pre-professional training for undergraduate Teaching Fellows each summer. Through the program, students achieve post-secondary success, while college-aged emerging leaders are inspired to become the next generation of educators and advocates.

Maximizing Student Potential

Breakthrough Collaborative addresses two drivers of the U.S. education crisis: unequal access to quality education for students and a shortage of qualified teachers.


The Tuchman Family Foundation supports Breakthrough at Kent Denver in offering summer and school-year programs for highly motivated but underserved Denver and Englewood middle and high school students.


The Breakthrough program offers students six full years of academic support, peer mentoring and college counseling, free of charge to their families, putting these scholars on the path to college. Simultaneously, it provides pre-professional training for undergraduate Teaching Fellows each summer. Through the program, students achieve post-secondary success, while college-aged emerging leaders are inspired to become the next generation of educators and advocates.


Results

served at no cost since 1995


from high school (2020)


Breakthrough graduates (2020)



Graduating Teaching Fellows (2020)



*12% of students have deferred enrollment because of COVID-19 to Spring or Fall 2021

Maximizing Student Potential

The Cherry Creek Innovation Campus (CCIC) provides state-of-the-art college and career preparation and an opportunity for high schoolers throughout the Cherry Creek School District to explore their interests, learn real-world skills and get a headstart on their pathway of purpose. The CCIC offers seven in-demand and growing career pathways, including:


  • advanced manufacturing
  • business services
  • health and wellness
  • hospitality and tourism
  • infrastructure engineering
  • IT and STEAM, and 
  • transportation (automotive and aviation)


The Tuchman Family Foundation began partnering with CCIC in 2022, providing a challenge grant to inspire other contributions toward the CCIC’s equipment and maintenance needs, as well as to help activate the CCIC outside of school hours for various community groups. 


Working with industry partners and local colleges and universities, the CCIC designs curriculum that is rooted in real-world skills, with a focus on putting learners in an industry-based culture. This approach helps students make the most of high school through direct connections to careers that will serve them well throughout their lives. 


The Tuchman Family Foundation hopes to help the CCIC foster new industry partnerships, allow students to continue to have access to the most up-to-date equipment, and provide the broader community access to the CCIC’s training and certification. 


Helping Students Realize Their Dreams

The Cherry Creek Innovation Campus (CCIC) provides state-of-the-art college and career preparation and an opportunity for high schoolers throughout the Cherry Creek School District to explore their interests, learn real-world skills and get a headstart on their pathway of purpose. The CCIC offers seven in-demand and growing career pathways, including:


  • advanced manufacturing
  • business services
  • health and wellness
  • hospitality and tourism
  • infrastructure engineering
  • IT and STEAM, and 
  • transportation (automotive and aviation)

 

The Tuchman Family Foundation began partnering with CCIC in 2022, providing a challenge grant to inspire other contributions toward the CCIC’s equipment and maintenance needs, as well as to help activate the CCIC outside of school hours for various community groups. 

 

Working with industry partners and local colleges and universities, the CCIC designs curriculum that is rooted in real-world skills, with a focus on putting learners in an industry-based culture. This approach helps students make the most of high school through direct connections to careers that will serve them well throughout their lives. 

 

The Tuchman Family Foundation hopes to help the CCIC foster new industry partnerships, allow students to continue to have access to the most up-to-date equipment, and provide the broader community access to the CCIC’s training and certifications. 


Results

served annually


Supplies for Success

Every year, teachers spend hundreds of dollars out of their own pockets to help students succeed. In response, the Tuchman Family Foundation created ‘Supplies for Success,' an initiative to listen to teachers and provide the essential supplies they need to bring learning to life.  From crayons to books to mindfulness tools for mental health, the foundation has delivered materials to hundreds of educators and students in the Denver area.

In 2022, every teacher at Munroe Elementary, Rocky Mountain Prep Southwest and KIPP Sunshine Peak Elementary was invited to create a $250 wish list of supplies. The Tuchman Family Foundation delivered hundreds of classroom materials to 70 teachers and faculty working with nearly 1,000 students.  Learn more.

In 2023, the Tuchman Family Foundation delivered supplies to Traverse Academy, an innovative program for Cherry Creek students whose education journey has been impacted by mental health challenges. Teacher wish lists included calming fidgets, sensory objects for mindfulness and items with motivational messages.  Learn more.

Results

Tens of millions of Americans don't have adequate access to nutritious food, fueled in part by issues of affordability and equity. The Tuchman Family Foundation has partnered with Teens for Food Justice (TFFJ), a New York City-based nonprofit, to help combat food insecurity and diet-related diseases through youth-led hydroponic farming in schools. 


TFFJ’s hands-on STEM programming teaches students how to build, operate and maintain hydroponic farming systems, and enables them to learn from the foods they grow.  Students learn the value of healthy eating and the importance of advocating for equitable access to nutritious food, while working to provide food for themselves and their communities. 


TFFJ received a grant from The Tuchman Family Foundation to operate a hydroponic farm and educational program at Bruce Randolph School in Denver. Students in grades six through 12, with the support of farm staff, are able to harvest, on average, 450 pounds of fresh produce each month. This nutritious food directly contributes to meals served in Bruce Randolph School’s cafeteria and is distributed to community members through a student-run farmer’s market.


The Tuchman Family Foundation is proud to support the use of hydroponic farming as a sustainable solution for growing large quantities of produce in urban environments. By empowering students with the knowledge and tools to learn about sustainable food systems, we are helping close gaps in local food access, improve health outcomes, and foster an excitement about healthy eating among youth. 



Results