The Rapides Foundation

“The rapides foundation's trustees are the members of the organization.”

“The rapides foundation's trustees, who are the members of the organization, hold an annual meeting each december to elect new members of the organization. Each trustee, or member, is elected for a term of three years and may be re-elected for one additional term.”

“A final copy of the form 990 is furnished to the audit committee of the rapides foundation board (trf) for review and approval, and a meeting is held to discuss the form 990 in detail. The meeting is attended by staff that assisted in compiling the form, as well as, representatives of the external accounting firm who compiled the form. All trf board members receive the final form 990 copy when it is sent to the audit committee, and all board members are invited to attend the audit committee meeting to review the form in detail.”

“The rapides foundation has both a "staff code of ethics and conduct and a "trustee code of ethics and conduct," both of which define and describe actions to be taken in the event of conflicts of interest. The "staff code of ethics and conduct" is monitored and enforced through organizational procedures, controls and daily supervision of employees by the next level of management. The "trustee code of ethics and conduct" is monitored at each trustee board and committee meeting, because the first agenda item is one in which the meeting chairman asks trustees to disclose any potential conflicts with listed agenda items. A trustee that has a potential conflict of interest with a matter that comes before the board or committee is required to leave the room before the matter is discussed, and a majority vote of the remaining disinterested board trustees determine whether a conflict actually exists. If a conflict is determined to exist, then the conflicted trustee is not allowed to be present during board discussion nor vote on the issue creating the conflict. Each year, trustees and key employees are required to complete a conflict of interest questionnaire to disclose business and personal relationships that could be potential conflicts of interest.”

“The rapides foundation board compensation committee, which is composed of the independent members of its executive committee, periodically engages a third-party compensation consultant to provide market information concerning pay and benefits and make compensation structure recommendations for all organization positions. The consultant is provided with job descriptions for all job positions. The consultant then compares those jobs with similar positions at similar types and sizes of organizations. The consultant meets with the compensation committee and provides the comparison data, along with their recommendations for pay ranges for each position (minimum, midpoint, maximum). Recommendations are based upon market averages of similar types and sizes of organizations. In interim years, increases in pay ranges are recommended to the board by management based on survey information of similar organizations. The ceo and two directors of the organization are considered key employees. The ceo recommends the pay for the two directors and a salary budget for the remaining employees to the compensation committee for approval. The compensation committee independently discusses its recommendations for ceo pay. Minutes of all meetings are recorded and maintained.”

“The rapides foundation mission, philanthropic objectives, guiding organizational objectives, staff code of ethics and conduct, trustee code of ethics and conduct, and annual report (including financial statements) are all available on the organization's website at www.rapidesfoundation.org.”

“The process has not changed from the prior year.”

“During 2015, through a $200,000 grant from the rapides foundation, the orchard foundation, trf's supporting organization, conducted kagan instructional institutes for 350 area educators. The institutes featured hands-on curriculum and materials that are engaging, rigorous and motivating for students and that can immediately be brought back into the classroom and implemented in a cooperative learning model. Additionally, teachers received follow-up one-on-one coaching in the classroom. On-site coaching is provided by area teachers who have completed previous kagan trainings, successfully implemented kagan methods in their classrooms and attended coach training workshops. The orchard foundation has developed 41 kagan certified coaches and one certified school trainer in its service area. The orchard foundation also held trainings for new and aspiring leaders in area schools. The program is designed for assistant principals or teachers who are dedicated to improving the best practices in instruction and leadership. These participants were trained in the 5 dimensions of teaching and learning framework by the university of washington center for educational leadership. The leading for better instruction program allows principals to develop their leadership skills in guiding and supporting teachers' professional learning. Principals were also trained in the 5 dimensions of teaching and learning. A superintendents' network was established to provide sessions for superintendents and key central office leaders, focused on the role of central office leadership in developing and supporting principal instructional leadership (in a common core and compass environment). In 2015 149 participants attended leadership development activities. Trf awarded $300,000 in grants to the orchard foundation to support its leadership institutes. In 2010 louisiana state university received an $8 million, five-year grant from the u.s. Department of education to retrain central louisiana professionals holding a bachelors' degree in a math- or science-related field to teach high school advanced placement math and science classes. The central louisiana academic residency for teachers (cart) grant is a collaborative effort between trf, the orchard foundation, nine central louisiana parish school districts, lsua and lsu. During 2015, the program's fifth cohort of 6 residents completed their co-teaching year, earned their master's degrees, and began teaching in central louisiana schools. As a result of the cart initiative, 42 new advanced placement math and science teachers are now employed in the central louisiana region. During 2015 the orchard foundation facilitated professional development for avoyelles and natchitoches public school districts as part of the louisiana department of education believe and succeed grant program. Both districts received school improvement grants to fund the training of school leaders who will turn around struggling schools in their districts. Professional development activities funded in natchitoches parish during 2015 included instructional leadership work with the urban learning and leadership center as well as kagan cooperative learning institute. Professional development activities funded in avoyelles parish during 2015 included instructional leadership work with university of washington's center for educational leadership. Trf approved a $3 million, three-year grant in 2015 to enable the orchard foundation to support career and postsecondary readiness. The orchard foundation college and career readiness initiative encompasses three areas - the cenla work ready network, college and career coaching for high school students, and jump start programs to expose cenla educators and students to career opportunities in the central louisiana region. The orchard foundation's cenla work ready network is a system designed to link education with workforce development efforts and align them with regional economic needs. During 2015, all pub”

“-increase the percentage of graduates enrolled in 2-year and 4-year colleges as first-time freshmen in the first fall following high school graduation from 50% in 2012 to 55% in 2018. (10% improvement) -increase the percentage of students ready for kindergarten from 53% in fall of 2012 to 65% in fall of 2018. (23% improvement)”