Community Partnership School (CPS)  will be participating in #GivingTuesday, an annual international fundraising campaign that serves as a philanthropic response to the consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

  This is the third year CPS has participated in #GivingTuesday. The campaign coincides with the holiday season and starts Tuesday, November 29th. CPS plans to raise funds through the campaign to maintain the variety of academic programs the school offers, as well as its Three C’s Scholarship Fund.

  The “Three C’s”  in the scholarship fund stand for curiosity, courage and compassion. These are the values CPS seeks to instill in students.

  #GivingTuesday is more than a fundraising campaign for CPS. Founded in 2012, it is an international day of giving during the holiday season.

  According to the #GivingTuesday website, the campaign is spread through social media and serves as a major fundraising opportunity for other organizations like CPS, increasing donations and creating new partnerships in the process.

  The idea of collaboration intersects with the mission of CPS because the school is reliant upon partnerships with the community.

  According to Christopher Jenkins, CPS’ Director of Communications and Civic Engagement, the school’s mission is to nurture talent in students from North Central Philadelphia and to shape the child into a curious, courageous and compassionate human being.

  The school encourages students to learn more about their communities and embrace new experiences, no matter how challenging.

  According to the CPS website, parents are empowered to participate as partners by being classroom volunteers, event coordinators and family council members. This, in turn, builds confidence in students by seeing their parents being active in their education.

  Rebecca Cain, CPS’ Director of Philanthropy, told Spirit News that in the past on #GivingTuesday, gifts to the scholarship fund were matched dollar for dollar up to $20,000. CPS’ fundraising goal this year is $40,000.

  The independent, nonprofit school was founded in 2006 through a partnership between Germantown Academy and Project HOME.

  Most of CPS’ funding comes from private donations instead of tuition fees, which are on a sliding scale. Thanks to these donations, parents pay what they can, usually in the $35-$150 range. The average family pays $750 yearly.

  CPS puts its funding to use through programs that prepare low-income students for high-performing schools.  The school offers a 7:1 student-teacher ratio and limits class sizes to 14 students.

  Throughout the past month, CPS posted descriptions of its programs on Facebook every day leading up to #GivingTuesday. Each post describes ways in which the school stays engaged with the community by encouraging parents to volunteer and students to be active learners, along with describing their alumni program and more.

  The alumni program allows students to connect to middle schools, high schools and post-secondary schools.  Alumni are able to stay connected to other students through social gatherings organized by the alumni program.

  One example of a class that has benefited from #GivingTuesday is the fifth grade cooking program that teaches  students how to cook affordable meals from scratch. The course is staffed by volunteers and lasts eight weeks.

  More programs can be found on the school’s website and on the Facebook page. These are just some of the classes that money raised in the #GivingTuesday campaign will fund.

  “We’re doing our best to include the community in our world,” Jenkins said. “We’re about partnering with the community. 

 After #GivingTuesday concluded, Community Partnership School was able to raise $15,648 with one donor agreeing to match up to $20,000. With that, the school successfully met its cumulative goal of $40,000.