The Summit Educational Foundation is pleased to announce our grant awards for the 2023 spring grant cycle. The Foundation was able to approve funding for 35 grants across the school district totaling more than $375,000 with generous support from our community. A sampling of the approved grants include:
Primary Centers
● Purchasing books, posters, and other items to bring the students’ cultures, ethnicities, and self-representation into the daily school experience. $30,518
Elementary Schools
● Providing high quality, decodable texts for all second grade and ESL classrooms, aligning with the district’s approach to the science of reading. $83,554
● Funding a full-day Hovercraft Project for all 5th graders, involving working collaboratively to design, build and test their own hovercraft within the school gyms. $8,500
● Bringing best selling author Peter Reynolds to the district for three days of school-wide assemblies and family evenings. The sessions will focus on channeling creativity, building self-esteem, and developing a growth mindset. $30,000
● Funding “Living Voices”, live performances for multiple grades providing a dynamic, interactive experience of how the world looked, sounded, and felt during a significant time in history. $1,700
● Funding Professional Development with Wiley Blevins, an internationally-regarded educational consultant and author. These sessions will help teachers better align literacy instruction with the science of how brains learn to read. $6,714
● Continuing to fund the use of therapy dogs in two schools, providing emerging readers a safe and nurturing space to develop their proficiency. $2,600
Middle School
● Expanding the art class capabilities by purchasing additional equipment for ceramics and sculpture, enabling both art classrooms to offer this popular art form. $10,807
● Funding an expanded offering of Executive Functioning classes, which will assist kids in organization, listening skills, studying strategies, and agenda keeping. $5,539
● Piloting one year of The Social Institute, an online learning platform that empowers students to navigate their social world, while also guiding teachers and parents in identifying and addressing current social-emotional needs. $18,900
● Upgrading the previously funded VEX IQ kits used in Coding and Robotics curriculum with the purchase of 30 new generation system bundles, keeping the kits up to date and functional for the future. $11,120
High School
● Continuing to fund the popular Peer Leadership program, which provides positive support to incoming freshmen, while recognizing, growing, and developing student leaders. $9,240
● Purchasing a subscription to Formative, a web-based tool that allows teachers to create interactive, data-rich learning experiences and assessments, analyze student performance, and provide individualized feedback in real-time. $34,400
A full list of approved Spring 2023 grants is available at: www.sefnj.org