The Power of Play 2026 Activity Schedule is here!

Join the Gloucester Education Foundation and a team of incredible community partners and volunteers for Power of Play on March 22 at the GHS Field House. The event is FREE, open to all ages, and runs from 11am-2pm. More info here!

Thank you to Lead Sponsor Cape Ann Savings Bank and sponsors Sawyer Free Library, Medeiros General Construction, and Seashore Comfort Solutions for their generous support for Power of Play!

GPS Alumni Shining Bright, in Support of GEF!

Check out this compilation of video messages from GPS alumni, created by Marty Del Vecchio for the Gloucester Education Foundation’s recent 20th Anniversary Gala.

Please consider a donation to GEF’s year-end appeal before 12/31 to help support thousands of more kids like Rebecca, Trinity, Olivia, AJ, Thea and Nate. The programs that sparked their love for music, engineering, science, dance, theater and community – and led them to labs at Harvard and Northeastern; stages at Emerson, Suffolk, and Berklee; and tall ships sailing to St.Croix! – were make possible by the generosity of the Gloucester community. Over 20 years, YOU have helped raise over $11M for GEF! Thank you!

GEF Silent Auction Items: Sports Edition!

It’s game day for the red-hot Pats! 🏈 🔥 Get in on the action with amazing GEF online auction items for every sports fan, from Patriots–Giants tickets (with parking!) to a signed Red Sox baseball, a women’s college hockey experience, and a 2026 season pass to North Shore Adventures. Don’t sit on the sidelines: place your bids today here. Every bid benefits the students and staff of the Gloucester Public Schools!

GEF’s 20th Anniversary Online Auction is LIVE!

The Gloucester Education Foundation’s 20th Anniversary Gala on 11/6/25 is sold out – but you don’t need a gala ticket to bid on items in our online silent auction! Bidding opens today and closes at 7:30pm on 11/6/25. Click here to visit the auction!

Thanks to the incredible generosity of the Gloucester community – and the tenacity of our auction committee, led by Rachel Refalo, Kristin Michel, and Val Gilman – we have a wonderful array of items and packages to chose from. Your participation fuels programs that make learning come alive — in classrooms, on stages, and in labs across the Gloucester Public Schools. So browse, bid, share, and help us keep the sparks flying for another 20 years!

Thank you to our silent auction donors: Kathy Johnson, Mariposa, Manship Artists Residency; Topsfield Fair, Talbot Rink, Sugar Magnolias, Cove Cafe, Downeast Yacht Tours, Avis Murray, Oak to Ember, Omni Mount Washington, Loren Doucette, Steve Abell and the GHS Carpentry Shop, Tim Rose and the GHS Cabinet Design Program, Val Gilman, Kristin Michel, Sushi Sang Lee, Common Crow, Sought Interiors, Cape Ann Lanes, Melissa Cox, North Shore Music Theater, Garden City Pub, Bass Rocks Golf Club, Gorton’s, Ann Ziergebel, Surfari, North Shore Adventures, Jenn Klopotoski, Kathy Clancy, Rob and Kristen Parsons, Boston Red Sox, James Fiahlo, Winning Moves Games, Alan Refalo, and Title Research Group.

WE’RE SO THANKFUL FOR YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT!

Gloucester Band Program gets a boost – but needs community to step up!

Yesterday, Gloucester’s middle school band lit up the O’Maley stage with a joyful, high-energy performance that showed just how transformative music education can be.

Thanks to a recent $10,000 grant from Music Drives Us, the elementary and middle school band programs continue to grow and thrive, serving over 200 4-8th graders at no cost to families.

But with $60,000 still to raise this school year, GEF and GPS need the community’s support to ensure that the opportunity to learn an instrument remains available to every Gloucester student in grades 4-8. Every donation helps!

Read the story in the Gloucester Daily Times here and here

Donate to GEF to support the elementary and middle school bands (and please put “BAND” in the Special Instructions field so we know where to direct your gift!)

Gloucester Education Foundation looks back at a busy year – and busy hands – in new report!

GEF released its FY25 Impact Report today, “In Their Hands: The Power of Experiential Learning”. This colorful report highlights 30 hands-on programs led by talented Gloucester educators who go above and beyond to help students learn by doing. With nearly $475,000 invested in GPS this school year, GEF sees that the Gloucester community is steadfast in their support for our schools and experiential learning. We hope you’ll help keep that momentum going with a gift to our spring appeal!

Learn more about GEF at http://www.thinkthebest.org.

Celebrating a great 2024 at the Gloucester Education Foundation!

As 2024 winds down, the Gloucester Education Foundation is celebrating a banner year of community support and dynamic programming benefitting the 2,862 students of the Gloucester Public Schools. We distributed over $500,000 in grants to support 24 different programs in GPS this year! Thank you to everyone – students, educators, administrators, volunteers, board members, families, and especially our generous donors – for your work to strengthen teaching and learning in our local schools. Here’s to a great 2025!