School District Matches Every Teacher With Donor

For the first time, all applying teachers in St. Cloud Area School District 742's Adopt a Classroom program have been matched with a donor.

Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Philanthropy

An empty wooden classroom desk and chair beside a tall window in soft winter light, with a cup of pencils on the desk. — St. Cloud Area School District 742's Adopt a Classroom program has matched all 264 applying teachers with donors, sharing $69,000 for classrooms this year. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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St. Cloud Area School District 742's Adopt a Classroom program matched every applying teacher with a donor for the first time. This year, 264 teachers are sharing $69,000 for their classrooms.

Why it matters

The milestone means teachers across the district will receive classroom funding this year without any applicant going unmatched. The program is run by the Local Education & Activities Foundation, known as LEAF 742, which raises money through donations and grants.

Donors give $250 or more per classroom, and 100% of each donation goes to teachers, which works out to about $261 per teacher across 264 teachers sharing $69,000. Prior-year matching totals were not provided, so the year-over-year change cannot be measured from this data.

The players

Local Education & Activities Foundation (LEAF 742)

LEAF 742 is the nonprofit foundation that runs the Adopt a Classroom program and raises money through donations and grants to support students in St. Cloud Area School District 742.

St. Cloud Area School District 742

St. Cloud Area School District 742 is the public school district in St. Cloud whose teachers participate in the Adopt a Classroom program.

The details

Donors give $250 or more to support a classroom, and every dollar goes directly to teachers. LEAF raises the money through donations and grants to give students more access to academics, activities, arts and athletics.

• 2011: The Adopt a Classroom program began.
• 2026-11-02: All applying teachers were matched with donors this year.

Philanthropy Landscape

Adopt a Classroom has operated since 2011 as a donor-matching model that routes 100% of contributions directly to teachers rather than through administrative overhead. This year's complete matching of applicants marks the program's fullest coverage to date within the district, according to the figures provided.

Teachers in St. Cloud Area School District 742 who applied for the Adopt a Classroom program received donor funding this year, which means their classrooms can receive resources without waiting on unmatched requests. Community members who want to support local classrooms can give $250 or more, with the full amount going to teachers.

The takeaway

Every applying teacher in the district now has a donor match, showing how a small, direct-to-classroom gift of $250 can fund real resources for students. Community members interested in supporting local schools can consider a classroom donation as a concrete way to help.