Background
History
Schoolhouse Partners started out as the vision of one man, teaching in a classroom in a small town in Ohio and hoping to impact the lives and minds of the students who sat before him. As Lou Schafer progressed in his teaching career, he realized that many of the obstacles and challenges a school and a school district face are not in the classroom but rather behind the closed doors of the administrative offices.
A common complaint among school administrations is "not enough funds" when attempting to fully implement all of the plans and requirements of a state curriculum. Rather than agree with the idea and assign his school's troubles to the lack of money, Lou saw it as a challenge. "We shouldn't ever give something as vital as the education of our chlidren anything less than our best effort. And our best efforts include finding the money and resources we need in order to accomplish what we came here to do."
Lou continued his career in education then as a district-wide grant writer, then eventually as a Curriculum Director, impacting the direction of even more students. Lou eventually retired from the education sector and then hung up his own shingle as an independent grant writer, contracted by several school districts in Colorado. He now applies the knowledge and expertise attained earlier in his career to other sectors including non-profit organizations and faith-based and community service groups.
The firm now known as Schoolhouse Partners was conceived in 2004 and has since grown steadily. It retains its roots in grant writing, and in 2006 expanded to include sourcing grant opportunities with the acquisition of a popular subscription database. GrantSelect (www.grantselect.com), formerly published by Oryx Press, an imprint of Greenwood Publishing, was purchased and is now updated and maintained by Schoolhouse Partners.
Wise Words
“Our work is the presentation of our capabilities.” — Edward Gibbon