1st Annual LPSEF Golf Outing
Sponsorship available. Click below for information and registration form
LPS Staff Serve as Liaisons for the Foundation
A district Champions Program was created to act as a liaison for the Foundation with each building and/or department. Each Champion shares information regarding the Foundation’s activities such as the Grant Program, the Competitive Edge Program, the Back-to-School activity, the Foundation’s Annual Luncheon, and more. The Champions Program continues to help generate and maintain financial support for the Grant Program.
Each year, the Foundation offers incentives to our Champions and we’d like to announce the winners of the $500 incentive for the 2022-23 year!
Congratulations to Grant Elementary School which had the greatest percentage of increase of contributors per capita from last year and Holmes Middle School which had the largest dollar amount of contributions per capita. These awards include one-time and per-paycheck contributions. We’d also like to recognize Coolidge Elementary School with a $100 award for having added so many more new contributors – 10!
Thank you to our Champions for their continued support of the Foundation! We couldn’t do it without them.
We love our Foundation volunteers!
We’d love to have you join our team of wonderful volunteers! Please fill out this short form. https://bit.ly/LPSEFVolunteer
The LPS Education Foundation is pleased to offer a new recognition program called Star Awards! (This is an ongoing fundraiser)
Are you looking for a unique way to thank a Livonia Public Schools staff member? A Star Award honors any LPS employee who has made a difference in a student’s, family’s or fellow staffer’s life. For a $25 donation to the Foundation, a personalized, color certificate will be presented to your honoree, and they will receive recognition on the Foundation’s website and social media platforms as well as the district’s social media platforms. The certificate will be personalized with your praise to show this LPS employee how much they mean to you!
Please click on the link below to send a Star Award to an awesome LPS staff member!
https://bit.ly/LPSEF-StarAward
Donations received will be used to help fund the Foundation’s Grant Program so all funds will be going back into the schools to provide programs and supplies for our students and staff.
Thank you for your support!
If you have any questions, please email lpsfoundation@livoniapublicschools.org
You will be missed Dear Friend
We lost a very special person on March 31. Melodie Provencher retired from full time teaching with Livonia Public Schools and then joined the LPS Education Foundation. In recent years, she stepped back into the role of music teacher when the need arose to fill that valuable position at Johnson Upper Elementary. With the Foundation, Melodie served on the executive board as the recording secretary, chair of the Grant Program, co-chair of the Champions Program and she served on numerous committees.
Melodie will be greatly missed. She was loved by so many! Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends.
The family has requested that memorial donations be made to the LPS Education Foundation. You may do that by clicking here.
Alumni Battle It Out to Raise Funds for the Foundation!
Guest bartenders Dan West (Franklin High School) and Robb Drzewicki (Stevenson High School) joined Grand Tavern owner Mario Lucaj (Churchill High School) for an alumni tips battle benefitting the LPS Education Foundation. The generosity of donors and the mad skills of these three alums raised almost $2000 in just two hours!
529 College Saving Plan Webinars
The Competitive Edge registration for the 2021-22 kindergarteners is now closed but one of the services the Foundation provides is education on 529 plans. Please check out these free webinars.
LPS Education Foundation Welcomes New Executive Director
The Foundation is pleased to welcome Laura Ulaszek as the new Executive Director. Laura was raised in Livonia where she attended Livonia Public Schools from preschool through 12th grade and graduated from Stevenson High School. She then went on to major in journalism at Michigan State University graduating with a bachelor of arts as well as a specialization in dance.
Laura and her husband, Mike, along with their three children, Andrew, Nathan and Hannah, live in Livonia. Andrew and Nathan both recently graduated from Franklin High School and Hannah attends Grant Elementary.
To the Foundation, Laura brings experience in marketing and public relations, typesetting and graphic design, fundraising and more, but mostly importantly, she brings a passion for Livonia Public Schools. Laura has been very active in the Livonia schools’ PTAs and was the PTSA President at Franklin High School from 2018-2021. She is currently on the Livonia PTSA Council which oversees the 22 local PTA and PTSA units and serves as the monthly newsletter chairperson as well as helping in many other areas. She previously taught dance through LPS Community Education and served as the coordinator of the dance program for many years before moving on to open her own dance studio in Livonia from 2006-2018. Laura is also part of the LPS Athletic Council which is comprised of the high school principals, athletic directors and a parent representative from each high school. You will also see Laura at many Franklin sporting events selling tickets. Livonia Public Schools is a big part of Laura’s life, and she is excited to be part of the Foundation team to continue making an impact on the lives of LPS students and staff.
Competitive Edge Program
The LPS Education Foundation has implemented a unique program to attract families to the district and provide a great service to current residents by offering college planning and financial assistance for each new incoming kindergarten student. The goal is to provide district residents a competitive advantage over other communities by helping families begin college financial planning for their children early-on while providing seed money to begin saving for college.
The Foundation has provided the program now since 2008 for new classes of incoming students and have received a positive response. The Kalamazoo Promise program, recently implemented in that city, was used as a model for Livonia’s Competitive Edge program. Early results of the “Promise” show a variety of benefits for all areas of the community including increased enrollment, improved housing values, new retail development, and a renewed student commitment to completing their education.
How It Works
- The Foundation will provide an opportunity for the family of each new kindergarten student (including those in the Livonia Virtual program) to set up an IRS Section 529 college savings plan.
- The Foundation will hold education savings planning seminars for parents to learn about college savings, along with the tax and other advantages of a Section 529 Savings Plan.
- At these seminars, the Foundation will be prepared to set up a Section 529 savings plan for each student. The Foundation will be the account holder and the student will be the beneficiary.
- The Foundation will provide an initial contribution to a 529 savings account for the kindergarten student.
- Parents are encouraged to start a 529 savings plan and contribute towards it.
- To be eligible to utilize the Foundation’s 529 savings plan, a student must:
- Sign up in kindergarten
- Graduate from Livonia Public Schools
- Attend an eligible post secondary school upon graduation
- (There are no restrictions for accounts set up by families)
- The Competitive Edge will be offered annually for each new kindergarten student.
- The Foundation will use the State of Michigan’s MESP Section 529 Plan. There are over 100,000 current savings accounts with this well established program and parents may be eligible for a state matching contribution. For more information on the state’s program, visit www.MISAVES.com.
Why It’s Offered
- The LPS Education Foundation believes “Every child needs a foundation.” So we are committed to simplifying college savings planning for parents and to help get them started.
- The LPS Education Foundation Board sees a unique opportunity to significantly expand its influence and benefit to the LPS Community.
- This program will help attract families to the community which benefits everyone. Property values, funding for schools and municipalities, and business traffic are all enhanced by new families moving to our community.
LPS Education Foundation
The mission of the Foundation is to enlarge the resources available to the school district which will foster and expand educational opportunities for programs impacting students by building effective collaborations.
The Foundation offers a powerful and effective vehicle for directing contributions to benefit public education in portions of Livonia and Westland, Michigan.
LPS Education Foundation 