Fire Foundation Of Denver

The Fire Foundation of Denver (FIRE) was able to continue providing grant funding of $20,000 in 2024 to the Office of Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Denver in order to partially fund the salary for an important position relating to the mission of FIRE, the Director of Student Support Services. This position oversees and assists schools in educating children with significant special needs throughout the Archdiocese of Denver. FIRE also provided $56,500 in funding to teachers and other school administrators for professional development needs education, including the reimbursement of travel expenditures to approved conferences. Additionally, both the University of Notre Dame (through its program for inclusive education) and St. Louis University, provided in-kind/contributed services to FIRE during 2024 to further enhance the professional development of teachers in the Archdiocese of Denver.

In 2024, FIRE commenced the Spark school initiative. Spark schools are those schools that are evaluating the feasibility of becoming an inclusive Catholic school within their parish and/or high school community. In 2024, four parish schools engaged in professional development alongside our Partner schools and received exclusive access to training through the Learning Research Network. Total expenditures for the four parish schools in 2024 was $8,000. Additionally, these Spark schools also received exclusive access to training through the Notre Dame Program of inclusive education and from St. Louis University, all of such services were contributed.