Our History & Context

Since its inception, SPPF has demonstrated an intentional commitment to education and success in facilitating academic gains for students in the south St. Petersburg community. The SPPF M.A.S.T.R. Kids® (Math, Art, Science, Technology, and Reading) Program launched in 2016 as a summer camp designed to reduce summer learning loss. By 2020, securing Juvenile Welfare Board (JWB) funding enabled SPPF to respond to growing demand for the program to evolve to include afterschool programming and accelerate achievement gains and gap closure for the children of South St. Petersburg. In 2021, again in partnership with JWB, we successfully expanded to two sites to supplement the efforts of the transformation zone schools in further addressing the academic needs of scholars in South St. Petersburg. In June of 2023, we added another important component to our program, launching the High School M.A.S.T.R. Plan project, designed to prepare middle school students to enter and navigate high school successfully and then move forward into fulfilling careers of their choice with the earning power to sustain themselves and their families. In 2025, again prompted by unmet demand and support for program expansion, SPPF opened a 3rd site which will serve 60 to 70 additional scholars.

Today, SPPF provides transportation from 20+ schools to 3 core program sites for nearly 300 unique students annually within the SPPF MASTR Kids® and High School M.A.S.T.R. Plan programs. SPPF provides safe, accessible, out-of-school-time programming to K-10th grade students from low-income families in south St. Petersburg. We level the playing field, giving these students the opportunity to excel and compete.

Our curriculum and programming are designed to ensure that our students are 1) achieving their academic potential – starting with Reading fluency 2) developing resilience, self-awareness, and the ability to stand in their own being, and 3) empowered with the knowledge of their community’s history. Our ecosystem rewards curiosity and acknowledges the genius in every child.