PACE History
Parents Advancing Choice in Education (PACE)
was established in Dayton in 1998 by a number of individuals active in the Dayton civic and business community who came together to address the related issues of the educational choices for families in Montgomery County. Through their efforts a program was launched to provide annual scholarships to families to cover portions of the tuition at private schools for qualified families.
The original PACE mission statement in 1997 was “To assist families who seek to exercise education choice for their children while helping schools adopt strategies for improvement. In 1998 PACE awarded 542 K-12 scholarships to students in families selected by lottery from among 3300 applicants.
In 1998, Ohio passed a law that enabled free charter public schools to be created. The Dayton area is now home to over 30 charter schools including several on-line schools that support home schooling. While this has further expanded educational options for families, PACE still maintains a waiting list of more than 250 families.
In 1999, PACE became a partner city with the nationally recognized Children’s Scholarship Fund (CSF) out of New York. CSF matches the funds raised by PACE which has helped to continue the scholarship program started by PACE.
In 2001 PACE started a Parents Network
program to provide information about schools in the Montgomery County area, both public and private, and to assist families with questions they have in choosing the best school for their children. The first program held was a School Expo. More than 70 public and private schools were present and over 1000 parents and children attended the expo. Parents Network conducts a
School Expo every year for parents. In addition to this, information sessions are held periodically throughout the year for parents. Topics focus on subjects that will assist parents in learning what they need to know to be active in their child’s education as well as giving them the tools to make the proper choice when selecting a school for their child.
Parents Advancing Choice in Education, Inc.
Celebrating Our 10th Anniversary
Our History -- A group of local leaders and businessmen collectively pooled their resources to improve the education for low-income families in the Dayton community. Having the heart to make a difference in the community they lived in, they wanted children who were less fortunate to have the same educational opportunities of their own. It was not known if those families would take advantage of such an opportunity, but a strategy was put in place to make an offer.
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1997
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-The plan was finalized
and PACE became the first privately funded scholarship program
in Ohio and the 33rd in the United States. |
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1998 |
– 3000 applications
were received for the first PACE Scholarships and 542 were
awarded. |
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1999 |
– PACE became a partner
with the national Children’s Scholarship Fund. CSF’s
contribution of nearly $400,000 to PACE helped to expand the
scholarship program in Dayton. |
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2000 |
– December a full time Program Manager and
Program officer were hired. |
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2001 |
– Parents Network was launched at the first
PACE School Expo. |
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2002 |
– In May a permanent office was located at
1315 North Main Street in Dayton. |
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2003 |
- The Black Alliance
for Educational Options (BAEO) established an office at PACE,
later moving out on their own with offices in Dayton and
Columbus. |
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2003 |
– In January a full time executive Director
was hired. |
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2004 |
– In the fall, PACE produced and mailed its
first newsletter to the Dayton Community. |
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2005 |
– In June the Governor signed a budget bill
that approved the first publicly funded voucher for students in
Ohio. |
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2005 |
– In August PACE underwent a new strategic
plan and hired its first COO. |
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2006 |
– An explosion of new staff came on board
with the expansion of programs and new responsibilities. Added
staff: Program Manager – Scholarships, Education Specialist,
Case Manager, and Education Researcher. |
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2007 |
– In May, with the expansion of programs
and staff, PACE moved to a larger office space at 40 S. Perry
Street in Downtown Dayton. |
| ●2007 |
– PACE was the recipient of the Mathile Family Foundation (MFF) Community Award. |
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2007 |
– The Ohio College Scholarship Program was
started awarding scholarships to students attending an Ohio
college. |
| ●2008 |
- PACE celebrated its 10 year anniversary. |
| ●2008 |
- PACE expands its Parents Network Program
to include a new series of workshops for students interested in
going to college called “Pre-College Readiness Series.” |
| ●2009 |
- PACE announces a new program called “PACE
Express” that is designed to work closely with families whose
children are navigating the path to college. |
| ●2009 |
- PACE is named an agent for the ACT
Explore and Plan testing programs. |
