Connecting Schools With Great Fundraising Ideas.

The GE Foundation awarded a $22 million College Bound District grant to the Atlanta Public Schools in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday, October 30th. This is the largest privately funded grant ever for the Atlanta school district.

The grant was presented by Bob Corcoran, President of the GE Foundation to Superintendent Dr. Beverly L. Hall. The crowd attending the ceremony included GE Vice Chairman and President of Atlanta-based GE Energy John Rice; Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin; and the U.S. Secretary of Education’s regional representative Dr. Anne Hancock.

The GE Foundation has been involved with the Atlanta school district for many years. In 1995 they assisted Southside with a volunteer program to improve academic performance. In 2002 the foundation awarded Southside Comprehensive High School a five-year, $1 million “College Bound” grant to improve their college entry rates.

“Our connection with the Atlanta community is strong and this grant makes it even stronger,” John Rice said.“Our employees are a significant resource for Atlanta’s students. We are committed to helping them learning about engineering, science, math and technology. We want them to be competitive in the global work place. The better off they are today, the better off we all will be tomorrow.”

Superintendent Hall stated that the grant would assist the district in creating her vision of a math and science curriculum.

“The GE Foundation will play a key role in changing – for the better – the lives of 51,000 children who attend Atlanta Public Schools,” Superintendent Hall said. “Our children will learn math and science from real-life examples. As the world relies more and more on technology and analysis, hands-on experience is the best way to learn. We thank the GE Foundation for the opportunities this grant will allow– not only over the next five years, but for the lifetime of our children.”

Atlanta Public School students have improved performance in both math and science in every grade level over the past seven years. But their performance still is shows a need for improvement. The grant from the GE Foundation will help address these goals.

Sources: Atlanta Business Chronicle, GE News Center

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Your school could qualify for a grant from the Lowe’s corporation. Their Lowe’s Toolbox for Education is a grant program that gives funds to schools and public school parent teacher groups (PTA, PTO, etc.).

Many of the projects they have funded in the past have a focus on outdoor recreation and learning. Here are the kids of projects that Lowe’s is looking to fund:

Projects that encourage parent involvement and build stronger community spirit will be favored. There is a preference for funding requests which have a permanent impact such as facility enhancement (both indoor and outdoor) as well as landscaping/clean up type projects. In order to qualify for the Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant program, your group must complete the grant application.

Check out the Lowe’s website to find out about the application process. The next deadlines are October 12, 2007 and February 15, 2008. Special note though, once 1500 applications are received per cycle, the application process will end.

Find out more about Lowe’s Toolbox for Education

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Roundup of grants to schools recently awarded:

Colorado charter schools will get a cash infusion thanks to a $20.8 million federal grant. Full Story

Chattanooga Tennessee area high schools will benefit from a $975,000 grant from the Carnegie Corporation. The grant is specifically to help improve the teaching of mathematics in 16 area schools. Full Story

A Savannah, Georgia elementary school will have new trees for their playground thanks to a $10,000 grant sponsored by the Georgia Forestry Commission. Full Story

Four educational organizations were awarded $2.23 Millionby the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation to assist students in low-income area elementary schools. The four grants total just under $600,000 in the first year and grow to just over $800,000 in each subsequent year. Full Story

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Best Buy began a a grants to schools program in 2004. Since then they have given almost $14 million to over 5,000 K-12 schools. The program provides gift cards to schools so they can purchase technology for their students. Accredited non-profit K-12 public, private, parochial, magnet and charter schools are eligible and must be located within 50 miles of a Best Buy store.

• Deadline: September 30, 2007
• Maximum Award: $2000-$100,000

Find out more about Best Buy Teach Awards (via Grants Alert)

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Roundup of grants to schools recently awarded:

An Oregon school in the Douglas Education Service District has been awarded a federal Improving Literacy Through School Libraries grant for $299,475. Full Story

An Indiana Elementary school received a check for $25,000 from Menards Corp. to construct a fitness trail at the school. Full Story

Wheatland Elementary School District in California received two grants totaling more than $700,000 to help students  safety and mental health. This included a United States Department of Education grant and a state School Community Violence Prevention Program grant. Full Story

A $120,000 grant was awarded to benefit Pitman NJ schools from the New Jersey Department of Transportation to increase pedestrian, bicycle and traffic safety and promote walking and bicycling to school.  Full Story

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