Program areas at Rochester Education Foundation
Partner Programs: REF works with partners throughout the community to provide city students opportunities to learn, grow, and thrive in school and beyond. Through these partnerships, REF provides backbone administrative support while allowing partners to focus on the students. These programs are primarily supported through contributions.
College Access: REF is the convener of the Rochester College Access Network (RCAN) which includes RCSD and charter school counselors and administrators, professionals from local college and university offices of admissions and financial aid, and community based organizations. Through our award winning FAFSA Fest program, we have helped thousands of students fill out their state and federal financial aid applications. We also provide help with the college application process,searching for scholarships, understanding financial aid, and offer workshops about what to expect in college.This program is primarily supported through contributions.
Music and Arts for All: With the help of individuals throughout the community, REF has donated more than 3,650 musical instruments to classrooms and to the Roc music program. We provide scholarships for music lessons and arts camps. We support the Pride of Rochester Marching Band and Roc City Players, as well as musical concerts and performances.This program is primarily supported through contributions.
Smile Program: This is a two-fold program - supporting "Just Plain Fun" by providing funds for parent/teacher organizations at K-6 schools to help build community and smiles within the schools and "Learning is Fun" by providing creative student experiences that complement the K-6 science curriculum and make learning fun. At its core, the program is intended to help Rochester's elementary school students enjoy their day in school, have fun while learning, and give them plenty of reasons to smile.Literacy: Give Back, Give Books: We support literacy by providing books for classrooms, school libraries and for students to keep for their home libraries. We have given out more than 75,000 new and gently used books.