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President's Letter

Who is RREF?

While most people are familiar with school PTAs or Booster organizations, not every community has an educational foundation like Rocky River. In fact, the Rocky River Education Foundation (“RREF”) is the longest running and most effective education foundation in the greater Cleveland area. The RREF is a non-profit board. Our purpose is to enrich and provide added quality to the educational experience of all studentsattending Rocky River City Schools (RRCS). The RREF is made up of River parents and community members who are passionate about seeing our schools, our teachers and "most of all" our students, succeed. But we are so much more than that!

The RREF is a grant underwriter. Through donations from corporations and individuals throughout the community, the RREF funds many grant requests from Rocky River teachers and staff. The approved grants are used to fuel innovation and creativity in our classrooms. From the $70,000 of grants funded last year, our district teachers and staff brought additive tools and programs that elevated the learning experiences for all of our students, including:

  • Beach School’s “Sound of Learning” experience, requested by Matt DeMooy and Tricia Wagner
  • “Muggins Math Aerobics for the Mind” to our students in Goldwood, requested by Wendy Raffin
  • STEM kits for our Kensington kids, requested by Beth Paul
  • The technology for the RRMS Media Center Renovations
  • “Math Manipulatives” to support complex math concepts for our High Schoolers, requested by Andy Shue

From Beach School to the High School and all grades in between, RREF is giving back every dollar donated to support our children and the outstanding teachers and staff in our district. None of this would be possible without the generous individual and corporate donations provided to the RREF.

The RREF administers scholarships awarded to our High School seniors. This year, thanks to our many donor scholarship funds, the RREF administered over $125,000 in scholarships to more than 60 graduating seniors. It is through the donations from our community that we are able to help send so many of our students off to schools across the country to pursue their interests and follow their dreams.

The RREF runs fundraisers, too. You may have attended our annual gala, seen the car raffle in the Homecoming Parade, or encountered the many signs around town publicizing the chance to win the new Chevy Malibu, generously donated to RRCS by Serpentini Chevrolet of Westlake. The corporate and individual donations make all that we do possible, and our hope is that the results will inspire many of you to want to get involved by:

  • Buying tickets for the car raffle, drawing to be held on December 1
  • Attending our annual gala on Saturday, March 23, 2024
  • Donating to the RREF
  • Including the RREF in your estate planning
  • Joining our board

If you are interested in any or all of the above, please visit us at rredfoundation.org to learn more!

I’m very excited to present the following pages to our community. Our stories highlight the RREF’s involvement in the district. This is more than a newsletter. It’s a report back to you, our donors and supporters. As we celebrate Rocky River’s success in achieving the state’s highest rankings from the Ohio Department of Education, the RREF is proud to present to you how your dollars support this organization that supports our students.

See you around town!
Stacey Clevenger, RREF President

 

For more information regarding the Rocky River Education Foundation, please contact Joe Calabrese at joseph.r.calabrese@gmail.com.