Thanks to the Steven Halmos Family Foundation, every child enrolled at the new Madelaine Halmos Academy Elementary school will now have access to a prepaid college scholarship after graduating high school. Nearly 100 students will receive a two-year prepaid scholarship to any Florida state university of their choice. The elementary school is part of the Jack & Jill Center, which serves needy families in Broward County.
“Whatever successes I’ve had in life are to a great extent attributable to my parents and the emphasis they placed on education,” says Steve Halmos, CEO of The Steven Halmos Family Foundation. “My wife, Madelaine, and I hope that these Opportunity Scholarships will provide the kind of opportunities we’ve had, opportunities that will allow these kids to live the American Dream like we have. We’re excited that we’ve been able to make these scholarships available to all the inaugural K-5 students at the new elementary school named in Madelaine’s honor so as to help secure their future.”
The newly opened Madelaine Halmos Academy is a 12-classroom facility spanning 28,743 square feet with a technology-driven STEM curriculum.
Along with highly skilled staff and educators, the school boasts a low student-to-teacher ratio, daily healthy breakfast, lunch, snacks, educational field trips and extracurricular activities to foster growth outside the classroom. Students also access quality after-school programs, a summer camp and on-site counseling and therapeutic services.
In addition to completing high school, students that receive the scholarships must remain drug-free, avoid illegal activity, and maintain an excellent behavioral record. To ensure learners stay on track during their time at the academy, each student will be assigned a mentor throughout their educational journey.
“The fact that these Opportunity Scholarships await the students will hopefully serve as a powerful incentive for the student’s families to make sure their kids keep their noses clean and stay out of trouble,” Halmos says. “But when they do that, we further hope that these scholarships will be transformative in the lives of these children and their families. This scholarship program adheres to the Jack & Jill Center’s credo of providing “a hand up, not a handout.”
The new elementary school’s official ribbon-cutting and grand opening celebration will be held on September 15, 2021.
“Our goal is to not only encourage this inaugural cohort of K-5th students to follow their dreams via the support of the Halmos family but to offer Jack & Jill Opportunity Scholarships to the incoming classes of kindergartners at the Madelaine Halmos Academy each year for many years to come,” says Heather Siskind, CEO of the Jack & Jill Center. “We hope that the Halmos’ support of the scholarship program launch will then inspire other donors, including local business leaders, to continue to fund scholarships for our students in the years to come, thereby giving these high need students a better shot at a quality life through education.”
For more information or to donate to the Madelaine Halmos Academy Capital Campaign or the Jack & Jill Opportunity Scholarship Fund, contact Chief Development Officer Maria Meyer at 954.463.8772 ext. 203 or mmeyer@jackandjillcenter.org, or visit www.jackandjillcenter.org/mha-campaign/.
