The Guiding Success Early Learning Center

Guiding Angels Give It Forward Campaign
Bringing Music Home
The coronavirus pandemic and the effort to flatten the curve of its spread has shut down schools throughout Duval County and, even when we do get back to normal, things will never be the same. 

We all are touched by this major disruption in our lives but no one is affected more than our children.  Because of this shut down, and the impact that it is having  on our finances, we are forced to cancel our plans for our Guiding Success Summer Music Camp.  But, with your help, we can still continue with our mission to encourage literacy through  entrepreneurship and the arts. 

Your donation will help us offset the cost to provide students with individual and small group lessons as we do our best to help keep independent music teachers employed.  Just 12 students will help us cover 20 hours of a teacher's pay.  The more students enrolled in our program, the more teachers we can put to work.       
 
Our Vision
To provide a high-quality early childhood music education to every 4-year old in Duval County while in preschool thereby exposing them to a broader culture and placing them on a pathway that will guide their success from kindergarten to college.

Yes, providing a high-quality, early childhood music education to every four-year-old in Duval County is a bold vision but, with your help, it can be done.  Watch the video above to learn more our Guiding Success Program.

Our Program
Guiding Success is a program developed by League of Florida Orchestras, Inc. which was introduced to the community during a special summer music camp in 2011 at All About Kids VPK Music Academy. 

It has been said that music gives wings to the mind and flight to the imagination. Research has shown that children, through music in the early childhood environment,  are seven times more likely to go to college.   

Reaching our goal of $15,000 means that we will be able to present 24 children with scholarship vouchers to help offset the cost of participating in our program.  These vouchers enable us to provide music lessons and mentorship to students - beginning with the violin - while still in preschool. 

Proceeds will be donated to the Cora Lee Cuff Fund
Named in honor of Cora Lee Cuff (1938 - 1988), the mission of the Cora Lee Cuff Fund is to encourage literacy through entrepreneurship and the arts. Through the generosity of members of the NASEMBA Business Alliance, the Cora Lee Cuff Fund supports early-childhood financial literacy, music education, and cultural awareness programs at the VPK level as well as the development of micro-business through social entrepreneurship. This fund is a component fund of The Community Foundation, Inc.; we have partnered with the Community Foundation in Jacksonville to provide administrative support for this donor advised fund. 

The Community Foundation in Jacksonville seeks to help the citizens of Jacksonville and the surrounding region be good stewards taking care of our people, old and young, our environment, our communities and our talents. Founded in 1964, the Community Foundation in Jacksonville is the oldest community foundation in Florida, serving the citizens of Jacksonville and surrounding Northeast Florida. 

The Community Foundation has decades of experience helping donors plan their philanthropic journeys and build a better community for themselves and those they love. Today, the Community Foundation, home to over 360 individual funds, holds more than $141 million in assets and has made more than $166 million in grants. 

With your gifts of financial support, the Cora Lee Cuff Fund will continue to provide capacity building support to community-based organizations that serve the community and, in doing so, help us to carry out our mission. 

A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION OF THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, INC. MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE. REGISTRATION NO. CH2304