Norristown Area Education Foundation rebuilding months after D'Antonio takes reins
WEST NORRITON — Monica D'Antonio has been working to revive the long-dormant Norristown Area Education Foundation as its new executive director.
And after eight months, she seems to be finding her footing, raising around $45,000 so far to help fund programming initiatives for Norristown Area School District. It's a dream role for the West Norriton Township resident and former school board member.
"I love being that storyteller, and I'm thankful they've given me the opportunity to be that storyteller for the district, because I certainly am a cheerleader, if nothing else," D'Antonio said in an interview with The Times Herald.
D'Antonio resigned from her political post back in January after accepting the role as grant manager and executive director of the foundation.
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The nonprofit D'Antonio previously described as the "charitable wing of the school district" had been practically nonexistent for the past few years. It'd been mostly volunteers without leadership, she said, when it temporarily shut down in 2018. It was originally supposed to be closed for a year, but D'Antonio said then the COVID-19 pandemic happened and shifted priorities amid the global public health crisis.
"I had been looking for quite a while, in the nonprofit world, looking at director and executive director positions in other places, and then this position just kind of kept being open, and no one was applying for it, and we weren't really getting any candidates," D'Antonio told The Times Herald earlier this year, adding "I finally just sent in an application."
"I said, 'Look, I know this is weird, but I'm going to apply for this job, and if there's a better person than me, I will support that person because it's always the district first, in my opinion,"' she continued. "It's not about me, it's about serving the district. If there's an awesome person, let's do it, but if I'm your person, I'll resign, and that's what happened."
Missed opportunity
D'Antonio noted rebuilding the foundation and regaining a presence both online and in-person was top of mind after she settled into her new role. Thinking back, she realized what a missed opportunity it was for Norristown schools to not have supplemental funding. Other area school districts, many in affluent communities, have long had foundations that raised money for needs in schools.
"The big difference I would say is experience and longevity," she said, noting the successes of neighboring Methacton and Pottstown school districts. "We have just not had an executive director. We had no one captaining the ship.
"... They have people devoted full time to raising money, so they are heads and tails above — they're probably half-a-million, if not million-dollar organizations," she continued.
D'Antonio said she wants to grow the Norristown Area Education Foundation significantly. "I think for us, considering the fact that we're the county seat, and Norristown is such a big name — I would say in Montgomery [County] and even beyond — we should be bringing in half-a-million dollars a year," she said. "I think it's going to take five years, at least, to get there, but I think that should be the goal of me or any other future executive director ... aiming between $500,000 and $1 million if they can."
Building framework
In order to achieve those goals, D'Antonio said it was crucial to get "back up and running as [a] charitable organization." While she noted district officials maintained the foundation's 501c3 status, her first months as executive director were dedicated to building a website, social media accounts and a donor management system.
D'Antonio may be a one-woman show leading the district's education foundation, she's gathered people to help and advise. The group includes an 11-member board, Superintendent Christopher Dormer, Chief Financial Officer Michael Miller, and eight student representatives.
She noted how while having student involvement is not a common practice, it's a needed one.
"It's a program to help students. Why would you not have students?" she said.
D'Antonio recalled some of their initial ideas were focused on issues at Norristown Area High School, which prompted further explanation about how the foundation plays.
"We are a money making institution. We are not programmatic, and we are not here to fix the school district," she said. "That is the school board — they are elected to hold the administration accountable. That is their job. We're talking about things you want to see funded or sort of direct impact on students."
She noted student input has netted several ideas ranging from educational to sustainable and environmental. Suggestions included implementing fashion-related courses, installing water bottle filling stations, establishing a horticulture club for vegetables and pollinator stations to mitigate existing stormwater issues, and integrating new recreational activities for underclassmen.
She stressed that it's really about taking a holistic approach to raise money to fund programs that will set up students for success. Nearly 8,000 students attend 12 schools within the Norristown Area School District, the geographic boundaries encompassing Norristown, as well as East and West Norriton townships.
Donations would go toward a variety of "funding priorities" that spanned the gamut. D'Antonio noted categories including arts and sciences, career and technical education, extracurricular activities, mental health and wellness, and teacher resources.
"It's something that brings attention to the district for positive reasons. It puts it on the map and it lets them know that we're here. It also shows a commitment to the community," she said of the foundation's goals.
Relationships and grants
D'Antonio emphasized the importance of cultivating relationships and seeking grant opportunities. Storytelling, she said, is an effective tool to educate prospective donors about the school district.
"I think it's a legacy organization. It's something that promotes Norristown's story," she said, adding that "it's a way of spreading good messaging, trying to sort of change the image around the district, but it facilitates good programming in the district and it helps students, it helps families. It's there for them."
The foundation's premier cash infusion came by way of $20,000 in federal COVID-19 relief dollars from West Norriton Township. A "hit the ground running" run that took place this summer raised around $1,500 and D'Antonio secured approximately $25,000 in grants, which will aid funding arts, environmental and mental health-related programming.
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With respect to the arts, grants would fund a theater program at the high school's Roosevelt campus and an arts program at Blockson Middle School, both located in Norristown.
"We have really talented artistic kids in this district and ... the majority do not have access to the things that our neighboring districts have, like parents in Methacton [who] can send their kid to theater camp in the summertime, they can pay for private instrument lessons," she said. "Our kids really can't do that. So that's where we're going to come in. What's that supplementary work that we can do?"
D'Antonio stressed the need to pay special attention to Blockson, Norristown Area High School and the Roosevelt campus because "there's more need there at those three schools.
"There are students who have been left out of experiences, whether it's going to the theater, whether it's field trips, whether it's getting really cool artists to come and work with them in schools, "D'Antonio continued. "Part of what I want to do is close that gap of what students have been exposed to in the experiences they've been able to have."
D'Antonio emphasized the need to continue progress as the organization works toward its upcoming winter fundraising event in January 2025. It's scheduled for 5-9 p.m. on Jan. 19, 2025 at The Burgess Restaurant and Bar at Jeffersonville Golf Club, 2400 W. Main St., in West Norriton Township. Visit nasdedfoundation.org for more information.
