The 2014 AZ Tax Credit Campaigns for PFFS-Downtown and PFFS-University are coming to a close in just 5 days on December 31st at midnight.
These Tax Credit Campaigns are the only school-wide fundraisers conducted in the 2014-2015 school year at PFFS-D and PFFS-U. But this one fundraising event at each school is critical to the operation of the schools. Without the revenue we receive though your AZ Tax Credit contributions there would be no Intersessions, no Expeditions, and our Elective and extracurricular programming would be drastically cut. Simply put, the PFFS you know and love at the Downtown and University locations would not exist on the funding alone we receive from the state for our small enrollments. To operate such small schools (by intention) and offer this kind of unique programming – we absolutely need the extra revenue we receive from the annual Tax Credit Campaign and through our professional outreach services.
Expeditions have been an integral part of our regular weekly programming since opening the first Paulo Freire Freedom School in 2005. Nearly every Friday for the last nine years, one-third of our PFFS-University student population has spent most of the day away from our school building having powerful learning experiences in various other locations around Tucson. PFFS-U students participate in Friday Expeditions by grade level on a rotating basis. PFFS-D students participate in expeditions as part of their regular interdisciplinary, ‘Learning in Community’ (LIC). Expeditions include a range of experiences designed to connect the school to the larger Tucson community, relate classroom content to the ‘real-world, and provide ‘team building’ opportunities to our students.
We could not be prouder of the unique Intersession programming we design at Paulo Freire Freedom School exposing our young people to rich/intensive, week-long learning experiences in the Fall and in the Spring of every school year. Over the past 10 years we have taken students on incredible trips away from Tucson that have included studying racism at the Tolerance Museum in Los Angeles, coastal biomes at CEDO in Puerto Peñasco and photography in Alamos, Mexico, archaeology in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, native cultures in Durango, Colorado and backpacking in Aravaipa Canyon. We also design amazing week-long experiences that take place in and around Tucson. We believe all of these experiences enrich our students background knowledge and support their engagement in the rest of our programming.
We are not aware of any school in Arizona (perhaps the country) which has Intersession and Expedition programs like ours. And we are only able to to bring these life changing opportunities to our children because we receive generous donations from our families and friends.
You can give $10, $50, $100 – any amount up to $200 (if you are filing individually) and $400 (if you are filling jointly) and when you file your tax return in 2015 you will have reduced the amount of taxes you owe by that same amount. In other words, you are not actually donating to a public school – rather you are taking taxes you already owe to the state of Arizona and diverting part of those taxes to a public school.
Both PFFS-University (opened in 2005) and PFFS-Downtown (opened this year) are demonstration sites/lab schools for best instructional practices and small school design. We exist to provide public educators in Tucson and throughout Arizona living examples of education that works – learning that is experienced. Take a moment to view this chronological, photo montage of the learning experienced just in the first half of this school year at PFFS-U and think about giving your AZ Tax Credit contribution to one of our two schools (PFFS-D has been just as amazing). To contribute online or download Tax Credit form and mail your contribution go to either Support PFFS-Downtown or Support PFFS-University
