Jump$tart Financial Education Program Look-up

This Toolkit was designed with parents in mind, but is well suited for use by grandparents, guardians, aunts, uncles, neighbors and friends—anyone ready and willing to start the conversation about financial education in schools.

Start the Conversation

All kids need to learn money management skills, but many families simply aren’t equipped to teach them everything they need to know.  That’s why every school in America needs to offer effective classroom-based financial education.  Starting now.

The goal of Project Groundswell and the Check Your School campaign is to bring effective financial education to every public, private, and charter school at the elementary, middle, and high school level in our country.  But we really don’t need you to reach all of them.  Just yours.

Whether it’s your child’s or grandchild’s school, the school where you work or volunteer, the school you once attended yourself, or the school in your neighborhood that you pass by when you walk your dog—define “your” school your way.  And start there.

But what can one person do?  Plenty!

If you have a high school student, check out the nationwide high school financial education access study created by Jump$tart’s partner, Next Gen Personal Finance.

With enough of us involved, we can go big by starting small.  By starting at home.

First, Check Your School! 

  • Use our search tool to see if your school is listed in the database as offering effective financial education to your kids.
  • Or, check at your school—ask teachers, administrators, or even your own kids if money management is included in the curriculum.
  • If you already know the status of financial education at your school, skip on down to the next step.

Report Back to Us

  • After checking with your school to see if personal finance is already being taught, report back using our Add a School page. The information you provide may be useful to the next parent who comes along and provide us with a great lead for follow up.
  • Remember, if your school doesn’t offer financial education or you aren’t able to get an answer, that’s still valuable information. So please report back, even if there isn’t much to share.

Toot Your School’s Horn

  • If your school already offers effective financial education, our Check Your School tool will help you thank and congratulate them for their place on the cutting edge!
We’ve created talking points and sample letters to help you start the conversation and links to research to help you make the case.  And you can refer teachers, aides, and administrators to our Implementation Toolkit where they, too, will find resources to help them get started.

Start the Conversation

If your school doesn’t offer financial education or if what they do offer could use a boost, you can play a critical role in helping us start the conversation about the importance of financial literacy and the need for effective financial education in school. How?

  • Reach out to the teachers, aides, and administrators you know.
  • Discuss the need for financial education at parent-teacher conferences.
  • Use after-school activities, such as sporting events, school plays and concerts, and back-to-school night to talk with teachers and also other parents.
  • Suggest financial education as a topic for PTA (and similar parent organizations) meetings.

Take Up the Cause

  • The more parents a school hears from, the more likely your voices will be heard.
  • PTAs and similar parent groups can help to amplify the message. Or, just get a group of your friends willing to help you make the case.
  • Encourage family and friends at other schools to use our Check Your School tool, too.
  • Download a list of ideas on how you can help us spread the word through your own social media circles.