2025-2026 PEF Impact Grants Announced 

PEF’S COMMITMENT: FUNDING THE FUTURE OF PETALUMA’S STUDENTS THROUGH THE ANNUAL PEF IMPACT GRANT PROGRAM

2025-2026 PEF Impact Grants Announced

Petaluma, CA, November 17, 2025 - When the Petaluma Educational Foundation (PEF) was founded in 1982, we made a promise to offer Petaluma’s youth the same, or even better, educational opportunities that we were fortunate enough to receive so they could go on to build a brighter future for our city, county, and world. Today, we honor that promise through community-supported scholarships, impact grants, and endowed funds. With the help of our generous donors, we subsidize curricula in literacy, STEAM, health education, the arts, student well-being, and more.

Through the community’s partnership, we continue to seek financial donations to Fund the Future, supporting the annual PEF Impact Grant program. This academic year, PEF is providing over $250,000 in funding for curriculum-based programs across grade levels and academic focus areas at several of our community’s public, private, and charter schools, all aimed at supporting student learning and growth.

Numerous studies have shown that fine arts, physical education, and social-emotional learning (SEL) are critical to childhood development and well-being. Yet, these vital programs are often the first to be cut when schools face budget constraints. PEF’s Impact Grant program is designed to bridge this gap, offering grants that help sustain and strengthen these essential programs in local schools. Our grants cover a wide range of subjects from vocational skills to literacy, math to the humanities but all share the same goal:

  • Create a level playing field for students of all abilities and backgrounds in the classroom

  • Actively engage students in the learning process

  • Provide educators with the tools and resources to transform the delivery of education

PEF is committed to ensuring that the grants we award have a lasting impact. We view each grant as an ongoing process, working closely with our school partners to track implementation and evaluate outcomes. This allows us to measure the success of the programs and demonstrate the tangible impact of our donors’ support.

Your donation to PEF’s Fund the Future will help fund the following programs for local students:

  • Expand Elementary Band Instrument Library: Petaluma City School District, $7,366

  • Filmmaking for Students: Petaluma High School, $15,000

  • Building Confidence through Bilingualism and Biliteracy: McDowell Elementary School, $20,000

  • Hear Every Voice: Classroom Audio Access for Multilingual Learners: McDowell Elementary, $10,750

  • Enhancing Sensory Support for TK and Kindergarten Students: Waugh School District, $11,537

  • Think Outside the Blocks: Dunham Elementary School, $8,200

  • Robotics Refresher: Casa Grande High School, $20,000

  • Touch Screens for Social Studies Instruction: Casa Grande High School, $19,804

  • STEAM Program Improvements: Petaluma High School, $20,000

  • Exploring, Discovering, Belonging: Adventure Learning: Valley Vista Public Waldorf School, $13,274

  • Outdoor Nature-Based STEAM Learning Space: South County Consortium at Meadow School, $7,300

  • Performing Art Program: St. Vincent de Paul College Prep, $13,706

  • Growing Together - Social Emotional Learning in TK through 3rd Grade: McKinley School, $10,042

  • Project SOAR - Sensory Outdoor Areas for Regulation: McNear Elementary School, $9,950

  • Rising Voices: Empowering Every Child through Performing Arts: Mary Collins Cherry Valley School, $20,000

  • Our Story, Our Future: Miwok Valley Elementary School, $13,572

  • Bridging the Divide: St. Vincent de Paul Elementary School, $17,237

  • Casa Grande High Debate Club: Casa Grande High School, $680

  • Making Learning Visible: Meadow School, $11,076

For more information on how to make a financial pledge to Fund the Future and support the PEF Impact Grant program or to establish an endowed fund that will provide ongoing support for local students today and in the future, please contact PEF Executive Director Maureen Highland at maureen@pefinfo.com or 707-778-4632, or visit pefinfo.com.

PEF creates impactful educational opportunities for all students in our community. We fund programs that promote critical thinking, creativity, student well-being, and lifelong learning. The Internal Revenue Service has designated PEF as a tax-exempt, non-profit, charitable 501(c)(3) organization. Our tax ID number is 94-2847212.