Friends of Chester Arthur raised $55,000 for school improvements at a recent fundraising auction

Friends of Chester Arthur, the community group working to improve the school at 20th and Catharine, just raised a pretty big chunk of money.

At their recent Friends Night Out fundraising auction, $55,000 was raised to contribute towards the improvements being made at the school, including their planned schoolyard redesign.

At the event on Saturday, the organization auctioned off things like coffee with Mayor Kenney, yoga classes, Starr restaurant gift cards and more.

More from Philadelphia Business Journal:

“We see ourselves as some sort of community model, not quite in the strictest sense of the word,” said Ivy Olesh, president of FoCA’s board. The group, which also has the school’s principal, Kim Newman, on its board, raises funds for school-related projects like playground refurbishment and new tech resources for its Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math programs.

Pretty soon $2.5 million in improvements will be coming to the schoolyard at the combination elementary and middle school. The planned redesign will transform the schoolyard from asphalt to an interactive learning space that can bring the classroom outdoors. As long as funding is in place, construction on the schoolyard improvements should begin in June and will be completed in time for the school year to begin.