Dozens of families and community members gathered Saturday at Arlington High School to learn about projects and initiatives the Arlington Education Foundation has funded.
The Innovations Showcase presented 14 projects, each focused on improving the learning environment for students throughout the district.
The foundation funds over $100,000 in grants every year. It gets support from private donations, particularly from the Arlington community.
This is the first year the foundation has made the showcase open to the public. “We’ve kind of gotten to the point where we want to just kind of get our name out more and make more of a connection with the community,” said Stephanie Murphy, co-president of the foundation.
One of the grants funded a 3D printer, which gave all teachers at Menotomy Preschool access to 3D-printed toys designed to enhance learning.
The toys are based on children’s books or tailored to fit the curriculums for math, literacy, and social and emotional learning at the preschool.
Sif Ferranti, a special education teacher at the preschool, and Elena Knightly, a social worker there, came up with the idea for this project. Knightly said that the toys have helped to motivate and engage students.
“Instead of just talking about something and showing a picture of something, it really adds to a different level of learning,” Knightly said.
Zoo Crew, a club at Arlington High School where students look after and feed animals, received grant money from the foundation to revamp its enclosures.
Moon Hackparth-Davis, a senior at Arlington High School, wrote the grant when she noticed one of their snakes was having a hard time shedding because of a humidity problem.
“We had a lot of issues with his enclosure,” Hackparth-Davis said. “It was so dry, and it’s really harmful for his lungs.”
The money paid for humidity monitors, temperature monitors, different types of soil, food, and enrichment activities for multiple enclosures.
As a result, Hackparth-Davis said, the animals are a lot more active and content in their enclosures.
Although many people associate spiders, roaches, and snakes with filth, Hackparth-Davis said, “they can be so affectionate, they can be very smart.”
“They deserve all the love that all the other animals get,” Hackparth-Davis said.
Julianna Keyes, a seventh grade Global Studies teacher at Ottoson Middle School, used her grant money to partially fund her trip to Antarctica over Christmas break.
Keyes said she hopes to use the information she gathered during her trip to create lesson plans with other global studies and science teachers about climate change and international cooperation.
“I’ve always found that travel is the best form of professional development I can do,” Keyes said. “To go to the places that I’m teaching about, experience things firsthand, and bring back ideas to my classroom.”
Laura Saylor, a parent with three kids in school, said she has been donating to the Arlington Education Foundation for years and came to the event to see what it has been up to.
“It looks like they’re doing great things,” Saylor said. “Everything here seems like a really worthwhile endeavor.”
Angela Elias, a Dallin Elementary School representative for the foundation, tells families and teachers about grant opportunities and events to increase awareness about the foundation’s work.
“I think it’s fantastic that the Arlington community supports this type of foundation to be able to have more programs and more after school programs and enrichment programs for children,” Elias said.
All photos are by Nicole Abrams.
Julianna Keyes tells observers about her trip to Antarctica and the work that she did. PHOTO/Nicole Abrams
Sif Ferranti, center, and Elena Knightly, at right, let students play with their interactive 3D-printed toys.
Moon Hackparth-Davis speaks about the different enclosures that high school students tend to.
This story, published Feb. 3, 2026, is part of a partnership between Your Arlington and the Boston University Department of Journalism.