What Does It Take to Become an ELF School?

To be successful, ELF needs a committed team of volunteers, teachers, and school principal. Each school needs two people to coordinate the program - to recruit classroom volunteers, schedule workshops, manage materials and secure funding for the program. The coordinators make sure that each classroom has at least two volunteers to present the monthly lessons.

ELF succeeds when it has the support of the school board, administration, and staff. Teachers demonstrate this support by welcoming volunteers into the classroom for 60-90 minutes each month. Principals show their support when they recognize the time and effort ELF volunteers give in bringing quality lessons into the school. And school board members and administrators demonstrate their support by including a portion of the ELF tuition in the school's operating budget each year.

New communities interested in ELF assemble their team and submit a preliminary application to VINS by January 15th for the following school year. All schools are required to complete a full application by the end of March. To be accepted into the program, schools must demonstrate that they have plenty of volunteers to present the program (about one adult per 8 school children works well), and they must indicate how the program will be funded. Acceptance letters are sent to ELF coordinators in April so that both ELF volunteers and classroom teachers know before summer vacation what topics will be presented in the upcoming year.

What does ELF Cost ?
VINS works hard to make ELF affordable for all schools. The basic tuition for ELF is $3360 per year (a minimum of $1200 of this must come from the school's budget), which covers the cost of the eight training workshops, plus materials and administrative fees. Smaller schools can join together to share the training and reduce the costs, as long as no more than 25 volunteers attend each training. The total tuition for ELF for two schools together is $ 4000, split between the schools; three schools together cost $4620, split between the schools. A limited number of partial scholarships are available for towns in need. Towns are accepted into the ELF program depending on the number of volunteers, administrative and teacher support, need for ELF enrichment, and financial commitment. Contact the ELF Program for details. elf@vinsweb.org

"As ELF volunteers we've learned so much about our world as well as about the surprising knowledge of the children in our classrooms."
-Ruth Polishuk, Volunteer ELF Coordinator, Robinson Elementary School

ELF Brochure

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