Since 1996, the McAllen Education Foundation, a non-profit group, has pooled donations from the public and local businesses to fund exciting, innovative teaching ideas that have benefited more than 36,000 students from kindergarten through the 12th grade.

This philanthropic tax-exempt public corporation operates independently of the District through its own board of directors, based upon the philosophy that public education should be a collaborate effort between corporate, community and educational interests. The mission of the Foundation is to develop, create, maintain and /or expand programs needed to enhance the McAllen Independent School District’s stated mission of excellence in education by directing support toward the following goals:

• Encouraging all students to attain their highest potential.
• Issuing grant awards that provide funds to finance selected innovative educational projects.
• Fostering public awareness and confidence in our schools through the Foundation’s efforts.
• Involving the community in helping to promote a quality education for the leaders and workers of tomorrow.

Foundation grants inspire learning through ideas that have been dreamed up by wonderfully creative McAllen ISD teachers. For example, these donations have made it possible for high school students to become totally and wonderfully immersed in DNA technology, to personally experience the intricacies of Homer’s epic literature - the Iliad and the Odyssey - as they themselves sailed the seas, and to mount special equipment on their school’s rooftop so they could study the magnificence of the Milky Way as it floated overhead. Among many things, middle school students have “Gone to Texas,” as they studied the cultural and historical background of their wonderful state. Elementary students have also taken part in a myriad of projects, including one that had these littlest students studying Shakespeare!

Contact: Norma Zamora-Guerra at 618-6023