Ole A. Thorp Scholastic Academy (Thorp), a K-8 CPS magnet school located on Chicago’s Northwest side, takes academic excellence seriously and strives every day to be one of the premier schools in Chicago.

However, the gap between the Chicago Public School’s budget and our school’s needs grows each year. Friends of Thorp was formed as a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization run by Thorp's parents to fundraise to bridge that gap in funding.

 
Thanks to the support of community partners and families like you, many wonderful upgrades to the Thorp campus have happened over the past 12 years. These include recent upgrades like 25 new reading centers in the classrooms, a new turf field, walking path, and gaga ball pit, on top of the playground structure, and an improved school kitchen so our kids can have freshly prepared meals, as well as other smaller improvements to the school experience! 

Friends of Thorp is excited for our second Annual Read-a-thon event! This event will engage and encourage over 850 students and their families to read as much as possible. Throughout those two weeks, students will be enticed with reading challenges, in-school literacy-focused assemblies, author readings, and more. Funds raised will go toward new school classroom reading centers to ensure students have daily access to a variety of books, magazines and more. Our goal is to raise $40,000 through this year’s event!