AU Partnership School Gets $2.55 Million in New Grants

Support for the proposed partnership school at Aurora University continues to grow.

On Thursday, two more substantial donations – these totaling $2.55 million – were given to the school, which, when built, will serve students in the Oswego, East Aurora, West Aurora and Indian Prairie school districts. Thursday’s grants came from the Tellabs Foundation, a new donor, and the Aurora-based Dunham Fund, which has supported the project from the beginning.

The Dunham Fund presented AU with a $2.35 million capital grant, according to Aurora University officials. That grant joins the $500,000 the fund has already given to the project, partially through its Challenge for Change program.

AU officials announced that the new school, when constructed (likely as an addition to Stephens Hall on the AU campus), will be named in honor of the late John C. Dunham, founder of the fund.

“This would be a program that John Dunham would have endorsed without reservation during his lifetime,” said Stewart Beach, the fund’s chairman. “The Dunham Fund is pleased to again support this outstanding educational program in his name with this significant grant.”

The Tellabs Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Naperville-based Tellabs, also stepped up with a $200,000 grant, which will go toward wireless infrastructure and an “educational web portal” for the school, officials said.

“Creating educational opportunities for tomorrow’s engineers is a key part of the Tellabs Foundation mission,” said foundation president (and Tellabs chairman) Michael J. Birck.

These grants join others given by the Exelon Foundation, Cabot Microelectronics, the Caterpillar Foundation, Google, VVF and Waste Management. AU needs to bring in a total of $10 million to $15 million to make the school a reality.

Nearly one year ago, Gov. Pat Quinn laying the groundwork for the partnership school, which will focus on science, technology, engineering and math – hence the acronym STEM. It will initially serve about 200 third- through eighth-graders from the four districts, selected based on grades, teacher recommendations and interest and proficiency in science and math.

The new school will be staffed by teachers from the districts, chosen based on leadership qualities and abilities in science and math to serve two- to four-year terms.

AU is aiming for the 2014-2015 school year to unveil the new building.