By Paul Thompson

Northeast News

June 22, 2017

KANSAS CITY, Missouri – The good news keep rolling in for Scuola Vita Nuova.

Earlier this week, the Northeast-based charter school (533 Garfield) received final confirmation of a $450,000 Charter School Growth Fund grant, to be paid out over the course of the next two years. The news marks the third significant grant for SVN in the past several months, joining $625,000 in funds pledged through the 501(c)3 SchoolSmartKC – backed by the Kauffman Foundation, the Hall Family Foundation, and the Walton Family Foundation – and an additional $325,000 pledged from a private foundation. In total, SVN has drawn $1.4 million in donations during 2017 alone.

Principal Nicole Goodman says that the $1.4 million in grant funds during 2017 represents more than the charter school has received in her entire seven-year tenure before this year.

“We don’t even have a fundraiser or development person. We operate out of our state and local funds,” Goodman said. “This is our first time getting money from outside sources.”

According to Goodman, SVN has seen its standardized test scores double during her time there despite serving a student body that is 98% Free and Reduced Lunch and 71% ESL.

“Even with that, we’re still making great progress,” Goodman said. “Although we’re identified as a quality school, we’re not where we want to be score-wise.”

In addition to recognizing prior successes, the $450,000 Charter School Growth Fund will help SVN realize a sizable expansion. Goodman told the Northeast News that the charter school plans to double in size to accommodate 414 students by 2023. Goodman added that SVN was granted final approval for the grant on Monday, June 19.

“When I actually found out that the group selected us to even go to their board, my grandmother had recently passed. I got the call, and I was just very thankful and blessed,” said an emotional Goodman. “Originally they were giving us $325,000, but when they called (this week), she said $450,000. It was like, ‘Are you serious?'”

SVN’s Business and Operations Manager Mary Pittala noted that more specific details regarding grant expectations are expected to be released over the next couple of weeks.

“We’re not sure what the details are and what the restrictions are,” Pittala said. “I’m sure there will be some metrics involved that we need to meet, and we’re going to try to align those with our SchoolSmartKC grant, because we don’t want to have different goals with each grant.”

Pittala added that the $325,000 private donation, $200,000 of which has already been granted, will be put towards the school’s expansion plans. SVN plans to begin that expansion next year by adding one class for each K-2 grade level.