Dear Friends,
Uncertainty is in the air for the U.S. education system as I write this letter. The coming year is likely to be full of change for teachers, students, and their families. What will not change, however, is that education will continue in the U.S. Students will still need supplies. Parents will still want their children to have access to the best education possible. Schools serving communities struggling to provide food and shelter for children will be challenged to also meet school supply needs. And yet, teachers will show up each and every day, ready to work, with whatever resources they have.
No matter what lies ahead for the U.S. education system, AdoptAClassroom.org will be there to have teachers’ backs. Just as we have been for the past 27 years, AdoptAClassroom.org is here to help all teachers – in public, private, and charter schools across the country – get the classroom supplies they need for their students, without spending money out of their own pockets.
Thanks to your support, 2024 was a record-breaking year for our organization. We raised more than 10% over the prior year to an all-time high of $9 million. The dollar value of orders delivered to teachers’ classrooms increased by 30% over the prior year. This growth was achieved while keeping a close eye on operational efficiency, with 90% of expenses going to our programs.
Stay tuned for our upcoming Annual Report to learn more.
The real measure of our success, however, is what happens in the classroom. Recently, a few of our staff and board members visited PS 117, Briarwood Elementary, in Queens, New York for their Black History Month celebration. Behind the scenes of a joyful dance performance were a multitude of classroom supplies provided by AdoptAClassroom.org funders: books, curriculum materials, and even an artist residency. Aretha, one of the teachers who led the celebration, said our support helped her tell her students, many of whom are immigrants and students of color, that they matter, despite everything going on in the world today.
To ensure that AdoptAClassroom.org will be here to support teachers and students for many years to come, we are actively planning for the future. With the backing of our board of directors, we began a planned leadership transition process more than two years ago that will result in current associate director, Ryan Jordan, stepping into the executive director role in 2026. While I will still be here next year to support Ryan in his new role, this will be my last annual letter to you as executive director of AdoptAClassroom.org.
I am so proud of all that we have accomplished at AdoptAClassroom.org in the nearly 12 years since I joined the organization, and even more proud to be “passing the torch” to an outstanding new leader at a point of strength and success for our organization.
AdoptAClassroom.org’s mission is more important now than ever before. We know that a good teacher with the right supplies can make all the difference for a student’s path in life. Those teachers are counting on our support to enable them to do their best for their students.
Let’s continue this good work together!
Sincerely,
Ann Ruhr Pifer, Executive Director