Storehouse for Teachers dba The Education Partnership

The Education Partnership aims to provide critically-needed school supplies to all students who are in need throughout Southwestern PA.

Three programs guide the organization's strategies:
The Teacher Resource Center is open for product distributions three days a week as well as most Saturdays throughout the school year. This allows teachers to stock up on critically needed supplies for their students’ arrival, along with the continuous need for supplies they experience over the course of the school year. Teachers at partner schools are permitted to “shop” twice each year (typically once per semester) leaving with $500-$1,000 worth of classroom supplies, free of charge, per visit. Supplies consist of “core” classroom necessities such as pencils, erasers, notebooks, paper, crayons, etc. In addition, partners have access to unlimited “incentive” items, which consist of any product we are able to procure that we believe has use in an educational setting. These items often include hygiene products, cleaning supplies, furniture, sporting equipment, art supplies, seasonal items, and much more.

The STEAM Lending Library features high-tech devices and teaching tools for teachers to use in their classrooms. This program allows teachers to sign out different pieces of equipment to use with their students. Through creating access to the latest technologies, the STEAM Lending Library gives teachers the ability to expose their students to the latest tools on the market for engaging educational experiences without being financially responsible for supplying the technology. As the landscape of education changes, so must the resources available to teachers. By allowing students access to innovative and interactive teaching technologies, we are not only engaging their minds to learn in a fun, hands-on manner, but we are also introducing them to the ways in which real-world problems are solved.

The Adopt-A-School program is a flagship model to engage the corporate community directly with the classroom. This program creates a vehicle by which corporate and business entities can “adopt” one or more schools in our program, putting Homework “Power Tool” Kits directly into the hands of every student attending the adopted school, separate from the classroom supplies distributed to teachers. Employees of the adopting company are invited to The Education Partnership to assemble the homework kits filled with classroom essentials as a volunteer team-building activity. Sponsors then participate in the distribution of the kits through specially arranged in-school assemblies where they can speak directly to the student body about what that kit will mean to a student’s success and what workplace opportunities can become available through academic excellence.

The Education Partnership has been operating for more than a decade and every year we have set the ambitious and attainable goal of meeting the school and classroom supply requirements of every student and teacher in the eight-county region who attend economically disadvantaged neighborhood schools, growing the number of students served minimally by 8-10% per year. Through continuously improving all aspects of operations, increasing product procurement efforts, actively soliciting prospective donors, and sustaining effective cost management through increased volunteerism, The Education Partnership is confident this goal will be achieved.

The Education Partnership is the only organization in Southwest PA providing school supplies for teachers and their students consistently throughout the school year. The support we offer students sets them up for success academically, ultimately supporting their graduation from high school and their future careers.

As predominantly a gift-in-kind surplus redistribution organization, our ability to efficiently and effectively procure and distribute is paramount. We have created a network of the regions' most in-need students while also providing a real solution to underfunded schools and budget restraints. We support students on $25 per year with everything they need, including the chair they sit on, the desk they work at, and the pencil in their hand. Currently (2021-2022 school year) with a ~$1M cash budget distributing ~$8M worth of goods, investing in The Education Partnership maximizes each dollar ensuring students’ success and the future of the region.

The Education Partnership has grown from serving 2,800 students in 11 schools to more than 55,000 students in 157 regional schools in 12 years.

In addition to building good relationships with local corporations, The Education Partnership is a full affiliate of the Kids in Need Foundation and a preferred partner of World Vision International. Memberships with these and other local and national surplus redistribution organizations have provided opportunities for extreme cost savings for core school supplies. Last year, The Education Partnership received approximately $6 million in gift-in-kind donations allowing us to distribute $8 million in school supplies to local schools. The Education Partnership also has a robust volunteer program allowing us to partner with more than 450 corporations, organizations, and associations in the mission of The Education Partnership through volunteer or team-building activities, product drives or financial support.