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Miscellaneous » For Staff » MDIEEF

MDIEEF

MDI Educational Enhancement Fund

Deadline for submissions: 

End of the work day on: Date to be determined  
 
**Notifications of awards will go out as soon as the applications have been reviewed** 
 

MDIEEF Application

 
Information for Grant Seekers:
What is MDI Educational Enhancement Fund?
 
MDI Educational Enhancement Fund (MDIEEF) is a district-wide funding program to enhance educational opportunities for young people attending schools within the MDI Regional School System (MDIRSS).
 
Who is eligible to apply for a MDIEEF grant?
 
MDIEEF will award grants to MDIRSS teachers, administrators, and students to support innovative and creative academic initiatives that are aligned with the MDIRSS mission, but that fall outside the scope of the school budget. Applicants whose projects are awarded funding are eligible to apply again after the passage of two grant cycles, assuming all reporting requirements are met from the previous award.
 
What are MDIEEF’s funding categories?
 
We invite applications that fit into one of three broad categories:
  1. Student grants will be awarded to individual students or a team of students to support projects aimed at complementing, enriching, or expanding upon the curriculum.
  2. Classroom-based grants will be awarded to individual teachers or groups of teachers to support projects aimed at complementing, enriching, or expanding upon the curriculum.
    • Classroom-based grants may also fund teacher professional development if PD is required to implement the proposed project.
  1. School Grants will be awarded to individual schools, or to school partnerships, for projects that enhance educational opportunities and foster collaboration within a grade level, between grade levels, within a subject area or department, or throughout the school as a whole.
What sorts of ideas will MDIEEF fund?
  • Innovative ideas, and the materials needed to support them, that are aligned with and will enrich the curriculum and students’ learning experiences.
  • Interdisciplinary projects that can serve as pilots or models for larger-scale, self-sustaining projects.
  • Proposals that meet a unique or emerging need within a school or in the district.
  • Programs that build community, bolster academic achievement and create opportunities that may not fit into the traditional day or classroom but are essential to student success and growth.
  • Projects that require a specific piece of equipment may be considered. However, grants for hardware for general classroom purposes cannot be considered. For example, we would consider a request for microscopes for a 3rd grade science class, but not for high school biology class, where microscopes are an integral part of the curriculum and should be supported in the regular school budget.
  • Projects that require a small paid stipend will be considered. However, MDIEEF will not fund stipends for the same project more than once; if a project becomes an ongoing or periodically offered part of a school’s offerings, the teachers involved should work with the Principal at their school to begin budgeting for the program and its associated costs or seek external funding or community partnerships.
MDIEEF is presently unable to consider grant applications for the following categories:
  • Services and goods that are part of the school budget such as general classroom or office supplies.
  • Building and/or facilities maintenance, repairs or renovations.
  • Replacement of items that were once part of a school budget but are no longer.
  • Requests typically funded by parent groups, such as dances, school-wide social or community events, or food associated with those events.
  • Requests to fund events or projects that do not have a clear educational benefit.
  • Requests typically funded by sports or special interest booster groups.
  • Teacher certification and degrees.
Award Amounts:
 
Grants will be awarded in amounts generally ranging between $500 and $2,000. Larger grants of up to $5,000 for cooperative proposals involving multiple teachers, a grade level, or school-wide project will be awarded if funding allows. Partial funding of a larger project may be awarded if the overall goals meet the grant criteria. If a grant cannot be fully funded, partial funding will be considered if there are specific phases of implementation and if costs for each phase are included in the application materials.