WHO WE ARE — THE STORY BEHIND THE SHARON EDUCATION FOUNDATION

There's a moment every parent in Sharon knows. You're at a school event, watching your kid light up over something unexpected — a robotics demo, a guest speaker, a mural going up on the cafeteria wall — and you wonder: how did this happen?

A lot of the time, the answer is SEF.

The Sharon Education Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit run entirely by parent volunteers. No paid staff. No corporate offices. Just people who live in Sharon, whose kids go to school in Sharon, and who believe that public education here should be as good as it can possibly be.

We started in 2012 with a simple idea: the school budget can only stretch so far. And there are teachers out there with incredible ideas that just need a little funding to become real. Since then, we've awarded more than $220,000 in grants to Sharon Public Schools — funding everything from 3-D printers at Sharon Middle School to flexible seating programs written by 2nd graders at East Elementary, to murals at Heights Elementary that kids helped design.

We're not a replacement for the school budget. We're a bridge.

SEF works alongside the PTOs, not instead of them. When something works at one school, we look for ways to bring it to others. We collaborate with teachers, administrators, and community members to make sure the programs we fund have real impact — and that the kids who need them most can access them.

We also do things that go beyond the classroom. Our Speaker Series has brought nationally recognized voices to Sharon to talk about things that matter to families: bullying and cybersafety, the pressure kids face in competitive school environments, substance abuse, executive function, learning differences. These aren't easy conversations, and that's exactly why we have them.

And every year, we award scholarships to graduating Sharon High School seniors and recognize community members who have made a lasting difference in the lives of children through the Lee Flaxer Award.

Sharon has a reputation for great schools. SEF is part of why that reputation holds.

If you want to be part of it — as a donor, a volunteer, or someone who has an idea worth funding — we'd love to hear from you.

Donate to SEF | Learn About Our Grants | Contact us at sharoneducationfoundation@gmail.com