The Foundation approved funding for 30 classroom enhancement grants and mini-grants totaling $108,400.36 at its October meeting. The number of grant applications and total dollars approved are both near records for the Foundation’s fall grant cycle.
Watch our big check video here!
The Foundation will consider another round of grant applications in the spring. This school year, the Foundation has more than $250,000 available for classroom enhancement grants. Together with a $400,000 contribution to the high school transformation and nearly $100,000 in performing arts support, as well as teacher awards, student scholarships, and more, the Foundation will offer East Grand Rapids Public Schools more than $750,000 this school year.
The grants approved this fall will benefit students at Woodcliff, all three elementary schools, the middle school, and the high school. They include funds for robotics, special education, the Middle School Innovation Lab, students at all three elementary schools attending Junior Achievement BizTown for the next three years, and more.
Teachers, staff, students, and community members can submit grant applications to the Foundation. By the time the Foundation’s board of directors considers the grants, they have been reviewed by building principals as well as EGRPS administrators. The board, which is made up of students, parents, community members, and a teacher representative, gives each grant careful consideration before deciding whether to fund it in full, in part, or not at all.
“Our board members have different perspectives but a common desire to help every student thrive,” says EGRSF Executive Director Amy Turner-Thole. “We are tremendously grateful for our donors and take seriously the responsibility to use those gifts to make our schools even better together.”
To see a full list of grants the Foundation has funded, visit egrsf.org.
