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The Winchester Foundation for Educational Excellence raises and grants private funds to support and encourage innovation and excellence in Winchester Public Schools through initiatives that are beyond the reach of available public funds.
The Winchester Foundation for Educational Excellence (WFEE) was founded in 1992 by a group of community members who wanted to fund projects and programs in the public schools of Winchester that were beyond the reach of the school budget. The group raised funds for a pool of money to be distributed through grants. Since its inception, WFEE has given away more than $5 million to Winchester Public Schools (WPS).
In 1993, WFEE began to host a town-wide Spelling Bee as both a community event and a fundraiser. Some years later, it was changed to a Trivia Bee, and still continues today. This beloved tradition is hosted every February.
Authorfest began in Winchester in 1994, a truly remarkable day that brings authors and illustrators to all Winchester public schools to celebrate reading, writing, and learning. WFEE began supporting Authorfest in 2008, before taking over as the host several years later. Currently, authors and illustrators visit students in their classrooms during the school day, then head to Town Hall for a Meet and Greet in the afternoon.
In 2005, WFEE created the Promise Fund, and in a two year period raised $900,000 to pay teachers’ salaries during a funding crisis. The crisis was brought on by rising enrollment, declining state aid and a series of failed operating overrides.Through the efforts of WFEE and the Promise Fund, Winchester was able to retain excellent educators until state aid and additional town funding could be obtained.
After the success of the Promise Fund, the WFEE board of Trustees realized what an amazing resource WFEE was to the Winchester community, and decided to grow their grants program. This could best be accomplished through hiring an Executive Director, and in 2008, Caren Connelly was hired as the first paid staff member of WFEE.
Between 2010 and 2013, WFEE saw escalating requests from educators for technology. By 2013, it was clear that the Winchester Public School system needed a technology overhaul. The WFEE board and WPS staff formed a partnership and began a three year campaign to raise $850,000 to update infrastructure, purchase devices and software, and to provide professional development to educators. The campaign was called PowerED Up, and increased public funding for technology and the opportunity for educators to explore innovative uses of technology in the classroom.
When Covid shut down the schools in March of 2020, educators were able to pivot to remote schooling because of the work from the PowerED Up program. With no in-person classes, the need for WFEE funding also had to change and they created the WFEE Academy. This offered online programs during students’ remote learning time to bridge the gap between student need and what educators could offer. The Academy touched hundreds of students across Winchester, keeping alive the spirit of innovation so key to WFEE’s mission.
