The Denver School of Science and Technology (DSST), a charter school that operates as part of the Denver Public Schools system, recently announced that it received $1 million from the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation. With the gift, DSST plans to move forward with its Teacher Career Pathway program to help schools identify, foster and retain teachers with outstanding leadership qualities.

In addition to supporting DSST's program, the contribution will help the school close a challenge grant from Dr. John C. Malone. Last year, cable TV entrepreneur Malone awarded the school a $7 million grant, which included a $3 million matching fundraising effort.

The funding was aimed at improving measurements of teacher and principal success based on the progress of DSST students by implementing a pay-per-performance program found in other professional fields. On top of the current gift, the Sie Foundation has made previous contributions to the school system, which enabled the completion of initial campus construction.

"DSST is very grateful for the generous ongoing support of Anna and John Sie. Their support has been truly instrumental in the growth and success of our network of schools," said Bill Kurtz, CEO of DSST Public Schools.

Charter schools and similar programs that rely on annual funding to support projects could benefit from nonprofit fund accounting, which would simplifying the auditing and reporting processes so they know where they are in their fundraising efforts.