Latest News

This fall, DPS Foundation awarded $233,000 in grants to 47 schools. We’re spotlighting a few of those in this blog post, including two student-led projects and an educator project

We're so thrilled to receive a BUILD Health Challenge grant for our WHOLE Schools mental health initiative!

In April, DPS Latinx families came together at W.G. Pearson to talk about what they look for in a school.

After five years of galvanizing community support for public schools and building DPS Foundation (DPSF) from idea to a vital reality, founding executive director Magan Gonzales-Smith has shared that she will be stepping aside on July 31, 2023.  Longtime education advocate, Durham native, and current Deputy Executive Director Erika Reese Wilkins will take the helm as the next leader.

We are deeply saddened and outraged by the loss of Angel Canales Quintana and Osmar Burgos Banegas, two DPS students killed by gun violence on Tuesday night. 

Our hearts are heavy from the shooting of one Hillside student earlier this month and the shooting death of another.

We are happy to welcome Matt Sears as our new Director of Partnerships and Dr. Chris Soto as our new WHOLE Schools Director of School-Based Wellbeing.

It’s been one year since WHOLE Schools launched. We’re sharing what we accomplished in 2022, and the road ahead in 2023 and beyond. Learn more at wholeschools.org.org

Today we lift up the life of Tyre Nichols, who was killed by police in Memphis. We encourage you to take a moment today to hold the light that shone from Tyre. His life matters. All Black lives matter.

Tyre’s death, another Black life lost to state violence, is directly relevant to the work we do in pursuing a vision of education justice in Durham. Police violence is a symptom of systemic racism that is woven into the fabric of our country - from systems of public safety to systems of public education. 

We’re thrilled to continue supporting the work of Sembrando Raices thanks to Duke Energy!