9 CMS kindergartens will be unique this fall because of this massive fundraiser
Nine Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools campuses will officially have play-based learning for kindergarteners this school year after parents raised over $200,000 in one month.
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In early March, Mollie Auerbach, a former kindergarten teacher and CMS mom, set out to restore one hour of play-based learning in CMS kindergarten classrooms. That would mean one hour a day when students would get to choose from a number of activities like playing with blocks, using toy kitchens or performing with puppets, for example. She called her effort “K Needs Play.”
For the last two decades, kindergartens around the U.S. have shifted away from play toward a stronger focus on structured academics, research shows. Practically, kindergarten began to look more like first grade in terms of its structure and focus than it did when most adults were in school. K Needs Play is about restoring play as a supplement to academic instruction.
CMS was enthusiastic about her idea, Auerbach said. There was just one problem – it would take about $200,000 to buy the supplies and training for teachers at the schools that expressed interest in piloting the program during the 2025-26 school year. And, the district would need the money by July 1.
Auerbach, other parents and local businesses answered the call.
“It felt like a very daunting task, and we were a little nervous whether we were going to be able to make the goal,” she told The Charlotte Observer. “But, we all emailed everyone we knew. We posted on social media. We just tried to spread the word of what we were doing.”
In less than a month, they raised the $200,000, with a little extra to spare. CMS now plans to roll out the program not just at the seven originally planned schools but also at Druid Hills Academy and Oakhurst STEAM Academy, for a total of nine campuses and over 45 classrooms. The final list includes:
K Needs play collected donations through a partnership with Foundation for the Carolinas. Two local businessmen also played a big role in closing the gap.
First, Auerbach said, Phillips Bragg of Bragg Financial Advisors reached out and offered his company’s help. That turned into a gift of over $75,000.
“We feel so fortunate to be part of this particular community and are committed to seeing our children and families thrive for the good of us all,” Bragg Financial said in a news release about the effort.
Bragg is friends with Bill Crowder, executive vice president of Crowder Constructors, a Charlotte-based construction company that builds across the southeastern U.S.
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Crowder recalled using blocks to build structures when he was in school and told The Charlotte Observer that laid the foundation for his interest in engineering. He was shocked to learn many kindergarten classrooms around the country no longer include those tools for learning.
“When I heard that CMS no longer had that program for the kids, I was floored,” Crowder said. “I don’t know how schools ever justified stopping that, but it’s time to restart it.”
He and Bragg came together and decided that, whatever money CMS parents couldn’t raise by the July 1 deadline, they’d split the difference. Crowder said he and his wife Pam ended up contributing around $80,000.
“These kids growing up now, I want them to have the opportunity to have the ability to learn what I learned growing up,” Crowder said. “I truly believe that kids that start out very early with some understanding of the mechanical world or of how things fit together, I think they will be better adults.”
Auerbach said teachers already completed play-based learning training ahead of the start of the 2026-27 school year. If successful, CMS is considering rolling it out districtwide for the 2027-28 school year.
She’s heard from lots of parents excited about the initiative and believes it will draw more families into CMS, which saw a slight drop in enrollment last school year.
“We really think this is an investment that will pay off,” Auerbach told the Observer. “I think this will be a big boon for CMS.”
Auerbach also said the effort has shown her the power of her community.
“Personally, it’s just been such a hopeful outcome,” she said. “It’s really given me a lot of hope that if you speak up and work together, you can make change.”
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