Marquez Charter is a public school, but the education our children receive is actually something we like to call Public Education Plus+.
It's the Magic that happens when Marquez gets to combine LAUSD funding with the substantial contributions that Marquez families and our community make each year via Friends of Marquez. Without Friends of Marquez, our school simply would not be the same.
Friends of Marquez (FOM) is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization run by parent volunteers who fundraise and work with the Marquez
Governing Board to establish the school's budget. In 2020-21, FOM will have a monetary goal to reach so they can fund school programs, through a variety of school events, corporate sponsorship, and our direct annual giving campaign - The Marquez Education Fund ("The Fund").
FOM pays for such things as the salaries of many teachers and aides, allowing for smaller class sizes than LAUSD norms, funding half-class reduction, and enrichment programs, including science, art, music, the digital edge program, the Library/Media Lounge, physical education, Mr. Lantos for 5th Grade plays, and the edible garden.
Traditionally each year, FOM funds about 70-75% of Marquez's discretionary operating budget. The “Discretionary Operating Budget” refers to the funds from Friends of Marquez + PTA + Block Grants that the Governing Council Budget Committee (Which is made up of teachers, staff, and parents) controls and allocates.
These discretionary funds pays for the many "extras" that Marquez has, that basic public education funding does not cover. It is additional money raised beyond what the State & LAUSD just gives Marquez, same as any other public school.
These "extras" include: CSR teachers, Science teacher, instructional aides, art, music, media lounge, tech program etc. The rest of the Marquez's discretionary operating budget comes from extra government Block Grant money that Marquez receives.
FOM donors are contributing over $300,000 this year to support remote learning through an additional Class Size Reduction (CSR) Teacher, a Science Teacher, 1to1 iPads in every class at Marquez and a $250 grant to all teachers to support remote learning.
Of all the funds that FOM raises, about 70% traditionally comes from Circle of Giving (COG). The remaining approx. 30% is raised through other fundraisers such as the Annual Auction, Year of Parties! and many more. This is why COG stands out as the single largest and most critical fundraising program we have at Marquez.
There are so many ways for our local community to get involved and become a Marquez Charter sponsor. For information on the levels of sponsorships, please contact Holly Moss-Naim (hollymossnaim@gmail.com).
Marquez Charter is a public school, but the education our children at Marquez receive is something we like to call PUBLIC EDUCATION PLUS+. Thanks to substantial contributions from Marquez families, and the surrounding community, Marquez is able to supplement the basic LAUSD education with additional teachers, and many enrichments. Without "The Fund", Marquez would not be able to offer students smaller class sizes by funding additional teachers, nor would the school have a separate science classroom with a full-time teacher, a library, additional classroom instructional aides, an art program, a music teacher, P.E., a Digital Edge Technology program and a 1:1 ratio for Ipads/laptops, or the Edible Garden enrichment. Imagine a day at Marquez without all these additional supplemental educational programs!
I'VE GOT 5 MINUTES...
- Email your HR Department at your company and see if they will match your donation
at Marquez - Company Match
- Come enjoy the many school events that we have throughout the year, that helps build our Marquez Community and gives our families opportunities to get to know one another, socialize and build relationships outside of school. Some of these events are:
Annual Auction, Talent Show, Father/Daughter Dance, Mother/Son Dance to name a few.
Marquez is a charter public school that was formed to give the administration, teachers and parents the ability to augment their child's education with enrichments and other special programs that would not be afforded other LAUSD under the block grant. The Marquez students end up getting something we like to call... Public Education Plus+
What is that? It's the magic that happens when Marquez gets to combine LAUSD funding with the substantial donations Marquez families make each year via FOM. Without your generous support, Marquez simply would not be the same.