LEAP is funded through two major sources:

The Chicago Annenberg Challenge and the Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE).

The Chicago Annenberg Challenge

In 1993, Walter Annenberg challenged Americans to make a commitment to their children. With one of the most generous pledges in the history of philanthropy, Annenberg announced a five-year, $500 million matching grant to support school reform in the nation's largest cities. As a part of this historic gift, Chicago received a $50 million two-for-one grant which required the commitment of an additional $100 million to improve public education, and 1995, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge was formed.

The Challenge makes grants and sponsors programs designed to improve student achievement and support innovation and collaboration within over 50 networks of Chicago public schools. Efforts supported by the Chicago Annenberg Challenge range from programs to bridge literacy instruction between home and school, to programs exploring the best use of technology in the classroom, and the integration of the arts across the curriculum.

Although diverse in approach and focus, many of our networks are working to achieve similar goals: greater parental and community involvement in local schools and local school councils, stronger connections between adults and students, re-energized teachers, a school day restructured to create greater learning opportunities, and improved classroom practices.

Chicago Annenberg Challenge 312/413-5869

115 South Sangamon Street, 3rd Floor Chicago, IL 60607-2615

Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education

The goal of the Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE) is to improve schools by making quality arts education a central part of the daily learning experience of students in Chicago Public Schools. It seeks to fully integrate the arts with the overall educational program of schools, recognizing the cultural diversity of the city, and creating for every child sequential and comprehensive arts experiences that are connected to the entire curriculum and to learning in the broader school community. To accomplish this goal the Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education coordinates the funding of neighborhood-based partnerships between school, arts organizations, and community organizations, and provides technical assistance to support those partnerships.

The Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education was catalyzed by Marshall Field's and has been supported by a collaboration of foundations and corporations: