GRANTS AWARDED
Alternative High Schools Grant
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded a $2.5 million grant to Communities In Schools Inc. last month. The grant will be used to support the 2006 expansion of the Alexandria, Va-based nonprofit organization’s Performance Learning Centers—small, alternative high schools—as well as its state and local leadership.
GRANTS AVAILABLE
FROM PRIVATE SOURCES
Applications are due March 21 for grants for the Enhancement of Geographic Literacy, sponsored by the National Council for the Social Studies. Grants support school geography education programs that integrate geography into the classroom curriculum and increase geographic literacy among students. Annual grants of $2,500 are available. Contact: NCSS, 8555 Sixteenth St., Suite 500, Silver Spring, MD 20910; (301) 588-1800; fax: (301) 588-2049; Web site: www.socialstudies.org.
Applications are due anytime for Spanish Translations for School and College Web site grants from the eProfessional Association, a nonprofit association based in Winona, Minn., that encourages the use of Internet technologies in education. Six hundred and fifty, one-year grants are available to K-12 schools and colleges in the United States to help translate their Web information into Spanish. To be eligible, schools must have Hispanic students. The amount of each grant will depend on the financial need of a school, but a grant can pay up to 100% of the translation costs. Contact: Eugenia Pino, ePA, 1124 W. Wabasha, Winona, MN 55987; (612) 605-1243; e-mail: eugeniap@dwebsite.com; Web site: www.eProfessionalassoc.org.
FROM FEDERAL SOURCES
Applications are due March 23 for Excellence in Economic Education program grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s office of innovation and improvement. Grants support research, school-based activities, and teaching training to enhance personal economic and financial literacy among students in K-12 schools. Nonprofit, educational organizations are eligible to apply. One $3 million, five-year grant is available. Contact: Carolyn J. Warren, USDE, 400 Maryland Ave. S.W., Room 4W209, Washington DC 20202-5961; (202) 205-5443; e-mail: Carolyn.warren@ed.gov; Web site: www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister.
Applications are due March 28 for grants to reduce alcohol abuse among high school students. The grants are sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education’s office of safe and drug-free schools. Fifty-seven, three-year grants of $300,000 to $500,000 are available. School districts interested in developing alcohol abuse programs for their high schools are eligible to apply.
Contact: Ethel F. Jackson, USDE, 400 Maryland Ave. S.W., Room 3E246, Washington, DC 20202; (202) 260-2812; e-mail: ethel.jackson@ed.gov.
Applications are due April 11 for the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, or GEAR UP, grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s office of postsecondary education. Twenty-four state grants and 226 partnership grants totaling $187 million are available to school districts and their partners to support early college preparation for low-income high school students. Contact: Angela Oliphant, GEAR UP, USDE, 1990 K St. N.W., Suite 6100, Washington, DC 20006-8524; (202) 502-7676.
Applications are due April 14 for Native Hawaiian Education grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s office of elementary and secondary education. Grants support programs that provide educational services to Native Hawaiian children. Native Hawaiian educational organizations, including schools that offer instruction in Hawaiian languages, are eligible to apply. Up to 30 grants, ranging from $375,000 to $1.1 million, are available. Contact: Beth Fine, USDE, 400 Maryland Ave. S.W., Room 3W223, Washington, DC 20202; (202) 260-1091; e-mail: beth.fine@ed.gov.
Applications are due April 15 for School Leadership program grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s office of innovation and improvement. Twenty-four grants, ranging from $250,000 to $750,000, are available to K-12 school districts to help them recruit, mentor, and train principals in high-need schools. Applicants must send notice of their intention to apply no later than March 24. Contact: Peggi Zelinko, USDE, 400 Maryland Ave. S.W., Room 5E114, Washington, DC 20202-4260; (202) 260-2614; e-mail: SLP@ed.gov.
Applications are due April 20 for Ready to Teach grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s office of innovation and improvement. Grants support national telecommunications-based programs designed to improve teaching in core curriculum areas and the distribution of instructional and educational video programming for elementary and secondary school teachers. Three to six grants, ranging from $1.5 million to $5 million, are available to nonprofit telecommunications organizations that distribute educational television. Contact: Sharon Harris Morgan or Carmelita Coleman, USDE, 400 Maryland Ave. S.W., Washington, DC 20202-5980; (202) 205-5880 or (202) 205-5450; e-mail: Sharon.Morgan@ed.gov or Carmelita.Coleman@ed.gov.
Applications are due April 22 for Early Childhood Educator Professional Development grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s office of elementary and secondary education. Grants support the professional development of early-childhood educators who work in areas with high numbers of low-income children. Partnerships consisting of colleges, school districts, and other public agencies are eligible to apply. Three to six, three-year grants, ranging from $2.5 million to $5 million, are available. Contact: Rosemary Fennell, USDE, 400 Maryland Ave. S.W., Room 3C-100, Washington, DC 20202; (202) 260-0792; e-mail: eceprofdev@ed.gov.
Applications are due anytime for Teacher Quality Research grants from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. Up to 15, three-year grants of $300,000 each are available. Grants support research on strategies for improving teacher preparation for 1st grade reading and 6th grade mathematics. Public and private nonprofits and universities are eligible to apply. Contact: Donna Hinkle, IES, 555 New Jersey Ave. N.W., Washington, DC 20208; (202) 208-2322; fax: (202) 219-0958; e-mail: donna.hinkle@ed.gov; Web site: www.ed.gov/offices/IES/tq/tqRFA.doc.
