Dear Peirce School Community

As leaders of Peirce School and Friends of Peirce, we’re excited to share how our partnership is making a meaningful impact on our students' education and strengthening our school community. Together, we’re addressing critical challenges, including funding gaps, and advancing our mission to provide a high-quality, inclusive education. Your ongoing support ensures a vibrant, supportive, and equitable environment where every child can thrive.

Peirce School is committed to nurturing globally-minded citizens through a balanced curriculum that meets the academic, cultural, and social-emotional needs of our diverse student body. Every student at Peirce is valued, supported, and empowered to reach their full potential. Our commitment to equity extends beyond the classroom to include our staff, families, and community partners, fostering a learning environment that supports every aspect of a student's development.​

Friends of Peirce (FoP), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, plays a vital role in bringing this vision to life by raising funds and supporting programs that enrich the student experience. From after-school activities to community events, FoP helps fill resource gaps, ensuring all students have access to a well-rounded education. Thanks to your generous support, this year’s Move-A-Thon raised over $60,000—83% of our goal to fully fund arts partnerships for the 2024-2025 school year, marking our second-highest Move-A-Thon total ever! This achievement underscores the power of our community and what we can accomplish together.

Focused on Our Shared Goal

As Principal of Peirce, and with the support of the FoP, our focus remains on addressing the key needs of our school community. This year, we are continuing to prioritize initiatives that directly impact our students’ learning experiences and well-being, ensuring every student has access to resources and opportunities that can help them succeed.​

Our shared commitment to fostering a supportive, inclusive, and equitable educational environment is reflected in the following priorities:

• School Staffing: reducing the student-to-staff ratio in Kindergarten to provide more individualized support.
• Arts Partnerships: continuing arts collaborations across all grade levels, aligned with our IB curriculum, and supporting extracurricular arts programs.
• Field Trip Subsidies: removing financial barriers to ensure all students can participate in enriching field trips.
• Library Grants: keeping our library stocked with culturally relevant books that resonate with our students' diverse interests.
• Teacher Stipends: allowing teachers the flexibility to acquire necessary materials that enhance student learning.
• Sports Programs: supporting the sports banquet and funding team uniforms and program needs.
• School Beautification: enhancing our physical space with updates like refinishing the gym floor and installing a mural created by students in collaboration with a local artist.
• Classroom Furniture: updating classroom furniture to foster more dynamic and flexible learning environments.

While these programs and investments are essential for student success, they often depend on funding beyond what is provided by Chicago Public Schools (CPS).

CPS allocates funds to each school based on factors such as enrollment and district-wide priorities, but 97-99% of Peirce's budget is allocated to staffing, leaving limited resources for other essential needs identified by the Principal and administrative team. As detailed in the above list for the 2024-25 school year, our needs extend beyond the basic educational requirements to include enrichment activities that enhance our students' learning experiences and foster a well-rounded education.

FoP plays a crucial role by fundraising and rallying community support to bridge the gap between CPS funding and the additional resources needed to fully support our students. Through these efforts, FoP ensures that students have access to the tools, opportunities, and experiences that foster their academic, social, and emotional development—empowering them to thrive both in and outside the classroom.

Building a Stronger Future, Together

​Looking ahead, we invite you to play an active role in supporting our school community. Whether through donating, volunteering, or participating in FoP and/or other parent groups and events —whether through time, talent, or resources—helps us create transformative opportunities for our students.

We’re also excited to announce that Friends of Peirce's first annual report will be released soon! This report will provide a detailed overview of the funds raised by FoP and how those funds are used to support key programs and initiatives for our students. We encourage you to review it and see firsthand the impact of our collective support.

If you're interested in getting involved, please reach out to us at [email protected] or visit our website for more details on upcoming events and volunteer opportunities. We also invite you to join us at our monthly Coffee and Community meetings, where we discuss how we can work together to make this year a success for all our students.

​Your continued support is vital to the strength of our community, and we are deeply grateful for the dedication and generosity of our parents, caregivers, and local partners. Together, we can create an environment where every student thrives and where Peirce serves as a model of what is possible when a community works together to invest in its future.

In partnership,
Erin Metroff | Board President, Friends of Peirce
Lori Zaimi | Principal, Peirce School