Funding & Grant Opportunities

The CSDE recently announced the recipients of the Department’s summer grant programs – Enrichment and Innovation Grants – which will deploy over $8.6M into communities, helping organizations deliver high-quality and accessible summer enrichment opportunities to children across Connecticut. We encourage school districts to partner with local organizations, building on their summer learning efforts, to maximize funding and leverage the state’s investment to serve as many students as possible. Expansion grants will offer up to $25,000 to local organizations that provide existing enrichment, and innovation grants will offer up to $250,000 to regional or statewide entities seeking to provide bold and innovative summer programming at scale.

The Baker-Polito Administration announced the availability of more than $70 million in funding and resources for school districts and community organizations to offer summer learning and recreational programs that will help students, who have been impacted by a year of remote and hybrid learning, grow academically and socially. Grant opportunities include Acceleration Academies, which allow students to learn and build skills working intensively on one subject in small, hands-on learning environments with excellent teachers; Summer School Matching Grants for school districts to offer 4-to-6-week, in-person programs with a mix of in-person academic and recreational activities; Summer Step Up, a program aimed at giving extra support to young learners entering school in the fall; among others.

On May 15, Governor Tim Walz announced a plan to fund enhanced summer learning programs in Minnesota to help students recover from the learning challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Governor allocated $75 million from the state’s flexible American Rescue Plan State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) administered at the federal level by the Department of Treasury to provide academic enrichment and mental health support this summer and beyond for Minnesota’s students, families, educators, communities, and schools.

The Summer Enrichment/Academic Program Grant provides grant funding to offer services for K-8 students for enrichment activities (robotics, dance, martial arts, art, music, outdoor programs, etc.); academic learning and readiness supports (summer school, bridge programs, transition programs, etc.); and/or social-emotional and mental health services.

Ready Together Oklahoma, a $14 million intiative, utilizes the 1 percent set aside of state funds for summer enrichment and encourages summer programs to take a "whole child" holistic approach to aid student recovery, address academic loss and provide food, extracurricular activities, and mental health support.

The state Department of Education and Prenda schools collaborated to offer the Recovering Bright Futures program, a grant opportunity to establish learning pods for students in fall 2021 utilizing American Rescue Plan state set-aside funds. School districts and communities can apply for funds to create District Learning ods, as well as Community Learning pods for students who do not have access to a District Learning pod.

New Hampshire is using COVID-19 recovery funds to partner with New Hampshire camps and school-age summer programs for its Rekindling Curiosity program. Through the program, up to $650 per child in camp fees can be covered by the state Department of Education.

$12.05 million was invested in the S.C. Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) to expand juvenile delinquency prevention programs. The programs assist students who are at an increased risk of dropping out of school or becoming juvenile offenders as a result of the education, social, and emotional impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds come from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund as authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020.

Vermont Afterschool is proud to work with Governor Phil Scott’s office, Senator Bernie Sanders’ office, and the Vermont Agency of Education to establish the Summer Matters for All Grant Program. Over $3 million will be awarded to programs across Vermont to expand access to summer enrichment opportunities for K-12 youth this summer.

“Beyond the Classroom” grants support learning opportunities and mental health programs for Wisconsin school-aged kids. The “Beyond the Classroom” grants will provide funding of up to $500,000 per non-profit organization. Up to $25 million will be available for programming during the summer months of 2021 and an additional $25 million will be available in the 2021-2022 school year and the following summer months.