life long learning
The vision of the Jones Family Foundation in the area of Life Long Learning is to inspire the Red Wing area educational system, school boards, community, and supportive organizations to collaboratively offer the best educational opportunities in the Midwest for all learners. We believe this can be achieved through the elimination of socio-economic disparities in opportunity and performance; a creative and challenging curriculum for all learners; and highly qualified and motivated teachers who are rewarded for performance.
The Jones Family Foundation is involved in a variety of educational initiatives throughout the Red Wing community through grants and partnerships with both public and private non-profit organizations. These are just a few of the Life Long Learning projects that have been funded through The Jones Family Foundation:
School Grants Program – As one of the projects that the Jones Family Foundation has initiated, the School Grants Program is one of our proudest accomplishments. Initiated in 1990, the School Grants Program strives to stimulate teachers throughout the Red Wing educational community to bring innovative, stimulating and unusual classroom experiences to students in Red Wing’s schools – both public and private.
The Jones Family Foundation has awarded grants
for innovative learning experiences such as Artists in
Residence programs, special science projects, field trips to
arts performances, Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning
Center and the Ruby Bridges diversity project. We rely on the community’s
educators to bring forward these ideas
and they have enthusiastically done so over the past 19 years.
In 2009 the Jones Family Foundation partnered with the Red Wing Public
School
Foundation 
for the public School Grants Program. We believe this partnership
will
bring even greater opportunities for students in the Red Wing area in
the coming years.
Since inception, the Foundation has made over $700,000 in grants to the schools in the Red Wing area via this project.
River Bend Montessori – In an effort to ensure that all preschool children in the Red Wing area are prepared for kindergarten, and to provide an alternative method of learning to young children in the Red Wing area, the Jones Family Foundation partnered with the Red Wing Public Schools to offer a pilot Montessori preschool program within the public schools system.
The mission of River Bend Montessori is to fully embrace
children’s
natural desire to
learn
and to empower them to grow to their full potential by implementing
the
principles of Dr. Maria Montessori and her method of education. The Montessori
method of education respects the uniqueness of every child and provides
an individually designed educational
experience to meet the developmental needs of each child. Working with hands-on
materials with guidance from the teacher helps each child discover the world
in which he/she lives and become an engaged, self-motivated learner.
Because of funding from the Jones Family Foundation, River Bend Montessori opened its doors to children ages 3 to 6 in September of 2009.
Imagination Library – This
program is offered through the United Way of Goodhue, Wabasha & Pierce
Counties. The Dolly Parton Imagination 
Library provides one book each
month to children living in participating communities
in Goodhue, Wabasha & Pierce Counties from birth to age 5 whose parents register
to receive them. These sturdy, colorful, age
appropriate books are delivered directly to the child. Each book is selected
for the developmental and benefits it brings - and for the fun. There
is no cost to the family