New Charter School in Fort Worth Receives Grant from the Sid W. Richardson Foundation

Growing DFW Charter School, International Leadership of Texas receives $100,000 to help with first-year operations for its newest campus opening in East Fort Worth

DALLAS – The celebration continues for International Leadership of Texas (ILTexas), who has now accumulated more than $200,000 in grant funds to support campuses within the ILTexas Charter District. After announcing the $35,000 received from the Hillcrest Foundation last week, ILTexas celebrates a $100,000 grant awarded from Fort Worth’s Sid W. Richardson Foundation. The funds will be used toward ILTexas’ newly constructed East Fort Worth kindergarten through eighth grade campus located at 5901 Boca Raton Blvd., which is set to open for the 2017-2018 academic year.

As the largest Chinese curriculum in the nation, ILTexas provides a trilingual, college preparatory education that requires students to master the English, Spanish and Chinese languages with opportunities to study abroad, participate in competitive athletics and graduate with an associate’s degree. This school year, all ILTexas’ current campuses were recognized as ‘Met Standard’ including several of their campuses receiving stars of distinction and a 100 percent high school graduation rate.

"With the financial support from such a respected foundation of our local community, I am getting increasingly excited to see the progress we will make during the first year serving the families of East Fort Worth,” says ILTexas Superintendent Eddie Conger. “It has been my honor to become a part of the community and serve the citizens of Tarrant County. The funds received from Sid W. Richardson foundation will allow us to 'hit the ground running' and be ready to deliver the quality trilingual education that’s accessible to many in this area.”

When a campus opens, state funding is not received until at least one month after the start of classes. With the help from Sid W. Richardson Foundation, ILTexas will be able to use the awarded money to supply English, Spanish, and Chinese textbooks, which increases the teachers’ access to classroom supplies; provide teacher support and professional development opportunities; as well as, help stock the campus library with additional resources and technology.

“The Sid Richardson Foundation is pleased to support International Leadership of Texas and its expansion into Fort Worth,” shares Pete Geren, president and chief executive officer of Sid W. Richardson Foundation. “ILTexas will offer another high quality educational opportunity for our community’s children that will prepare them for success in the dynamic and increasingly international economy that will define their future. We look forward to the growth of ILTexas in Tarrant County.

Founded in 2012 by former Dallas Independent School District high school principal Eddie Conger, ILTexas opened its first school in 2013 with over 2,500 students, making it the largest first-year charter in the history of Texas. Since 2013, the district has grown from two schools in North Texas to ten schools in Tarrant, Dallas and Harris Counties, with expansion plans for an additional five campuses located in East Fort Worth, Saginaw, Lancaster, and southeast Houston. For the 2017-2018 school year, ILTexas will grow from serving more than 10,000 students to an estimated 15,000 students. For more information, visit, iltexas.org.