The Board of Trustees on Tuesday approved accepting two grants awarded to Spring ISD by the Texas Education Agency totaling more than $1 million.
Chief of Innovation and Equity Dr. Lupita Hinojosa presented details on both grants, which give the district the unique opportunity to transform six underperforming campuses and improve student outcomes, at the board’s work session on Dec. 3.
“We know to transform underperforming schools,” Hinojosa said, “it’s going to take very committed leaders, school leaders, teachers, and more importantly—key stakeholders—such as our parents and community who will be engaged in giving us this input.”
Below are the details of each grant:
School Action Fund (SAF) Grant/Blended Learning Redesign – This grant totaling $840,000 will assist Bammel Elementary, Bammel Middle, Eickenroht and Major Elementary to spend one full year planning bold actions to improve student academic outcomes.
“This is truly an innovative redesign model of school improvement and aligning it with the Innovation and Equity department is something that we are excited about,” said Debra Broughton, project director of the School Action Fund Grant. “I truly believe the continuity of our teamwork should improve planning, internal alignment and communication, and overall improve our district administration of grants.”
The SAF Grant’s key components are:
- Effective Schools Framework (ESF)-aligned school model
- High-quality curriculum
- Student diagnostic assessment
- High-dosage tutoring
- Extended day or year
- Address mental health and social resiliency
“Our campuses are certainly entering uncharted territory, but with clarity and support, the journey should be very exciting,” said Broughton. “When successful, our scholars and families will experience positive academic outcomes and social/emotional growth.”
Additional Day School Year (ADSY) – This grant totals $200,000 and was awarded to Clark Primary and Clark Intermediate to provide half-day funding to add up to 30 additional days of school (a total of 210 instructional days) to to impact students who tend to lose some of the achievement gains they made during the previous school year.
By implementing the ADSY option, Clark Primary and Clark Intermediate will have the opportunity to rethink the daily schedule to increase teacher planning time and student play, according to Sharon Carpenter, project director of the Additional Day School year grant. She said the funds will help the Clark campuses with reimagining the teaching job, accelerating and enriching student learning, and strengthening whole-child supports. The goal would be greater teacher effectiveness and higher student achievement, she said.