Overview:

The Houston ISD Foundation is excited to announce the Valero Benefit for Children East End Innovation Fund, as part of the fourth round of the Houston ISD Foundation Innovation Grant to our district educators and leaders. The Valero Benefit for Children East End Innovation Fund aims to recognize and support excellence in innovation by providing grants – up to $20,000 – to enhance East Area elementary, middle school, high school programs and curriculum (as well at the Yates HS Feeder pattern).  Each project leader or award winner will be named an “HISD Foundation/Valero Benefit for Children Innovation Fellow” during the year their project is active. This is a competitive grants program designed to encourage teachers to develop innovative projects that lead to increased student success.

Important Dates:

• May 21: Applications Due through Submittable
• May 24 – May 31: Assessment of Applications
• June 4: Finalists Announced
• October 2021: Mid-term Report Due
• December 2021: Final Impact Report Due
• March 2022: Select Grant Winners Attend State of the Schools Event

Application Process:

All interested applicants must complete an application. Please note that the Valero Benefit for Children East End Innovation Fund is designated for East End schools. Valero Benefit for Children seeks to make a beneficial impact in the region by funding innovative projects from Austin, Chavez, Furr, Milby and Yates high schools, and the elementary and middle schools that feed into them.

Applications must include the following:

1. Type of Grant (teacher or school)
2. Total Requested Amount
3. Applicant Information (contact info, school, teaching position, etc.)
4. Overview of the project(s) and how it relates to the Foundation’s priorities (College & Career Readiness, Equity, Innovation, Whole Child), and how funding would be used to support and enhance innovative teaching practices or the learning in your classroom. (limit 500 words)
5. How many students are directly impacted and how the project advances educational outcomes for those students; if the program was successful and expanded, how might it benefit the district overall? How does your project assist with the district’s efforts to tackle the academic learning losses experienced from the COVID-19 crisis? (Limit 500 words)
6. How do you plan to implement your project (remotely or in person) ? If your project will be implemented in-person, is it capable of being adjusted for remote implementation?
7. Have you already committed to remaining at your job position in the Fall? (If you are the Project Lead and plan to switch roles over the summer, you must appoint a Co-Lead now or you will be at risk of not receiving any funding.) (Limit to 1-2 sentences)
8. Timeline for implementation of grant funds and materials. (Limit 300 words)
9. All interested applicants are required to upload an excel Budget Sheet along with the required application. The budget sheet will list the requested materials, quantity, cost per item, total amount requested.
10. Administrator’s contact information will serve as administrator’s endorsement.

Applications will be selected based on the educational merit, as well as innovation of the proposed project. This year we are especially interested in projects aimed at COVID-19 recovery, and particularly projects that seek to close academic achievement gaps and are associated with mental health, delivery of wraparound services, promoting equity of access, mentoring programs, and using phonics to address literacy issues. Be specific about how the innovation grant will improve the learning outcome for students or will improve the school environment for students. For example: do not ask for tablets, rather explain how tablets will be used to enhance instruction or support an innovative project. Please share in detail how the funding will change outcomes for students, not what the money will be spent on.

Innovation Grant Awards:

The Valero Benefit for Children East End Innovation Fund, established through a generous donation from the Valero Benefit for Children to the Houston ISD Foundation, will award up to $100,000 in Innovation Grants this year. Grant awards will be allocated as follows:

• • Classroom Grant (Individual PK-12th Grade Educator): $1,000 
  • Teacher Team Grant (2 or more teachers from same school): $5,000
  • Whole School Initiative (Individual Schools PK-12): $10,000
  • Collaborative Multi-School Grant (2 or more schools teams of any level): $20,000

Grant award recipients will implement their projects throughout the 2021-2022 Fall Semester, and will be required to submit both a Midterm Report in October 2021 and a Final Impact Report in December 2021.

Guidelines:

• Funds must be spent by the end of the first semester in January 2022
• Purchases made through the grant are property of the Houston ISD Foundation and will not be considered personal property of the grant recipients. If the grant recipient moves schools within the district the materials may move with the teacher upon permission from Houston ISD Foundation. If the teacher leaves the district, grant materials will become property of the school where the grant recipient was last working.
• Applications will be selected based on the innovative nature of the project and its alignment to Foundation priorities and impact on student success.

Scoring Rubric:

Applications will be evaluated on a scale of 1-4 in the following areas: Quality of Proposal (Content, Grammar, Clarity) Level of Innovation (Newness, Uniqueness) Benefit to Students, Schools, Community (Defined success) Alignment to Foundation Priorities (College & Career Readiness, Equity, Innovation, Whole Child), Budget Alignment (Budget fits Proposal)

For more questions, email info@houstonisdfoundation.org