About Project Appleseedtm

The #1 ranked resource for 'parental involvement in public schools' in Google

Our Mission

Project Appleseed is a nonprofit
resource, advocate, and voice for families,
in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness,
by means of a quality education in America’s public schools.

As a parent it can be a struggle sometimes to figure out how much and how exactly to be involved in a child’s school life and in the community. It is important to have a resource to turn to that is universal to parents across the United States.

Project Appleseed provides resources for parents who want to be involved in their children's schools and for schools who seek their involvement. From volunteering to home life to communication, you will find valuable information in all areas here at Project Appleseed, the national campaign for public school improvement. 

Project Appleseed believes that the “curriculum of the home”—the bundle of attitudes, habits, knowledge, and skills that children acquire through their relationship with their family and that facilitates their school learning - is more predictive of academic learning than the family’s socioeconomic status.

Celebrate Our Signature National Family Events!

Tennessee's First Lady Crissy Haslam promotes National Parental Involvement Day

History
Join us as we celebrate 17 years of program history! Project Appleseed began National Parental Involvement Day in 1994 & Public School Volunteer Week in 1997, to provide opportunities in which parents can volunteer in their local public schools. In 2008 we created National Family Fitness Week to promote physical activities and healthy eating for students and their families. 

Reach
Over 9 million family members participate in our celebrations at over 18,000 schools in all 50 states each school year.  We estimate that nearly every public school in America has recognized or celebrated these grass roots occasions, at least once, over the last two decades.  Each year parents and family members, state departments of education, nonprofits, businesses and thousands of school districts are involved.  There are currently over 300,000 links to our signature events Public School Volunteer Week & National Parental Involvement Day in the Google search engine. 

We Engage Communities

Project Appleseed has three purposes - improvement in learning, wellness, and school facilities.  We are a catalyst in the implementation of effective, research based, model parent and community involvement programs that increase social capital, improves the lives of families and revitalizes schools and communities across the United States. 

Beginning in the early 1990's, our organization was one of the first nonprofits in America to utilize the Internet to build social capital. We engage parent leaders and educators to participate in the improvement of our public schools. We educate Americans on how to take advantage of the uniquely democratic nature of America's schools.

Our Three Purposes
To positively impact public education, we promote quality improvement in learning, wellness, and school facilities to aid parents and educators in meeting the needs of the whole child:

1. Increasing student achievement by mobilizing parent, family and community volunteers inside and outside schools.

1. Increasing student achievement by mobilizing parent, family and community volunteers inside and outside schools.

The core of Project Appleseed's national award winning work to build social capital is our learning compact called the Parental Involvement Pledge. Based on the words of President Woodrow Wilson, the Parental Involvement Pledge is the most widely distributed compact in the United States. By signing the Pledge, parents agree to "take personal responsibility" for their children's education by promising to help their children with homework fifteen minutes each school night and to volunteer at their local school at least five hours each semester. Project Appleseed recruits and organizes parent help and support in local schools and school districts by providing schools with Project Appleseed's Parental Involvement Toolbox through this web site. Schools and organizations can order a complete plan, the Parental Involvement Toolbox, for mobilizing parents to volunteer in schools. Included in the toolbox is the Parental Involvement Pledge, Parental Involvement Report Card, a ten-step recruitment plan, parent organizing software and more! 

The Six Slices of Parent Involvement were adopted by Project Appleseed in 1996 from the framework developed by Dr. Joyce L. Epstein, director of the Center on Families, Communities, Schools, and Children's Learning at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.  The Center's mission is research, evaluation, policy analysis and dissemination in order to produce new and useful knowledge about how families, schools, and communities influence student motivation, learning, and development.  Project Appleseed is forever grateful to Dr. Epstein and the Center, for their contribution in establishing the Six Types of Parental Involvement as national standards. 

2. Strengthening fitness & nutrition by supporting family participation in physical activities and healthy eating.

Join parents, grandparents & caring adults who have pledged to support their children's participation in physical activities and healthy eating, to be active role models, and to include healthy eating and physical activity in family events. Take the Fitness & Nutrition Parental Involvement Pledge! In the fight against childhood obesity, parental involvement has received a good deal of attention because of its potential to influence a large number of school-aged children and their families. A new federal mandate went into affect in 2007 that requires school districts throughout the United States to reach out to parents and implement local wellness policies to improve the eating and physical habits of students. This mandate represents a unique way in which parents can work closely with local school administrators, parents, students, staff, fitness & allied health professionals to create and implement wellness policies in schools.

3. Enhancing the learning environment by utilizing alumni and community giving – as universities do - to finance the rebuilding public schools as green schools.

Charitable giving in the United States hit a record $306 billion even as Americans began feeling the pinch of soaring gas prices, falling stock markets and a looming mortgage crisis, they donated $306.39 billion to charity in 2008, more than ever before.  Public and private education, ranks second only to religious organizations as a recipient of grants and gifts.

As public school districts deal with more and more budget shortfalls, organized parents, community members and educators are turning to alumni philanthropy to finance school construction and staff augmentation-just as America's public universities have done for more than a century. Alumni gifts can generate billions of dollars to renovate and re-build America's schools - green. Green schools cost less to operate, freeing up resources to truly improve students’ education.

Green schools have carefully planned acoustics and abundant daylight that make it easier and more comfortable for students to learn. Their clean indoor air cuts down sick days and gives our children a head start for a healthy, prosperous future. And their innovative design provides a wealth of hands-on learning opportunities.

Primary Program Activity - www.projectappleseed.org/capitalcampaign.html