Classroom Grants

 -> Click here to reach the Applicant Portal <-

Grants are awarded in September of each year. Applications are accepted from May through August each year. A team of AEF board members and STAR Committee members reviews every application. The grants fund classroom projects supporting Abilene ISD classrooms’ curriculum and enrichment activities. Donations from community partners and Abilene ISD Employee Payroll Deductions fund STAR Grants. 

Tips for Submitting Successful Grant Applications

  • Grant applications must be completed online and submitted by Monday, August 26, 2024, at 9:00 am. Incomplete or late applications will not be accepted. Your campus principal and content area coordinator will review your application. Please make sure they know about your project concept before applying.  If your project is not approved, we will close it. 
  • Carefully review the AEF STAR Grant Guidelines and Application. Proofread the completed grant application.
  • Proposals submitted in a grant application should demonstrate creativity and innovation in educational programming and may include classroom supplies, manipulatives, equipment, and field trips, but not food. There are exceptions if the food is used as part of a lesson but not as a reward.
  • Be concise but not too brief. Information presented in the grant application should be clear and to the point but still descriptive enough to understand the proposal. Attaching supporting documentation to the application is not necessary.
  • Define all acronyms used within the grant application. Many readers are unfamiliar with educational jargon, such as EOC or AR, etc.
  • Obtain current price quotes for all items listed on the grant application budget page by using a new vendor catalog, visiting the vendor’s website, or contacting the vendor directly.  Include current shipping costs as a part of your grant application budget. Do not include tax as all purchases are tax-exempt. If you are using Amazon as a vendor, we encourage you to pursue their verification process for tax exemption.
  • Remove all references to your campus name and mascot. Our review teams evaluate projects blindly without identifying information for campus. For example, references to Cooper High will be redacted to “________” in a project application. We recommend each applicant edit their wording to preserve the writing quality.
  • Requests for building improvements are considered to fall within the district’s funding area and should not be included in a grant proposal.

GRANT GUIDELINES

Purpose: The Abilene Education Foundation (AEF) created Clssroom Grants to fund creative and innovative instructional programs or projects designed to benefit Abilene ISD students. The Abilene Education Foundation (AEF) is a non-profit 501(c) (3) public charity created to promote and enhance excellence in education for the students and teachers of the Abilene Independent School District.

Eligibility: Applications will be accepted from individual teachers or teams of teachers employed by Abilene ISD. Principals, administrators, One AISD employees, paraprofessionals, and coordinators may apply for a grant as a co-applicant with a classroom teacher. Other positions on campus, such as counselors, social workers, librarians, or instructional coordinators, may apply as long as they can show a direct benefit to the students on their campus, and preference will be given if they have a teacher as a co-applicant. Paraprofessionals may be co-applicants but not primary applicants.

Originality: Applications should be the original products of the teachers whose names appear on the form. Identical applications are strongly discouraged. Campus proposals submitted in a grant application should demonstrate creativity and innovation in educational programming and may include classroom supplies, manipulatives, equipment, and field trips.

Grant Awards of up to $1,500 will be awarded to an individual teacher. An application can have several co-applicants. The number of awards will depend on funds available from the Abilene Education Foundation.

Mary Ann Polnick 21st Century Learning Grants will be awarded to teachers whose proposals are designed to enhance their students’ learning using commonplace technology that some of our students use daily, such as laptops, iPods, iPhones, and iPads. These grants will assist students in learning by reinforcing technology at a higher level while incorporating 21st-century skills. The term “21st-century skills” is generally used to refer to specific core competencies such as collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem-solving.

Selection Process

Community volunteers and others will review and score applications as determined by the AEF Board of Directors. Recommended applications will be presented to the Executive Committee of the Abilene Education Foundation Board of Directors for review and formal approval.

The Grant Committee will notify winners the week of September 23rd.

Responsibilities of Grant Recipients

Grant recipient(s) will use grant awards for the purposes specified in the grant application.

Any materials or equipment purchased with the grant funds become the property of the Abilene Independent School District. If the teacher moves to another campus, items purchased with grant funds may be taken with the teacher. If the teacher leaves the district, items purchased with grant funds stay with the district at the last campus you served. Grant recipients(s) will turn in all receipts and unused funds, along with a brief one-page final STAR Grants Evaluation (form provided) no later than June 30, 2023, which may be shared with other campuses, District teachers, and administrators. If the evaluation (regardless of results) and receipts are not submitted, the applicant will no longer be eligible to apply for future grants.

Technology

If you purchase technology outside the District, you are responsible for any additional updates (including apps, software, etc.) and will NOT receive AISD technical support for the devices). Suppose you purchase outside the District and plan to use AISD wireless internet (and enter student identifying information). In that case, the grant recipient must ensure the company has a FERPA-compliant privacy policy. If not, e-mail jennifer.brawley@abileneisd.org to see about getting this in place. Please note, regarding other technology and software updates: Although you may apply for STAR funding in future years for software updates from previous devices awarded in a prior year, there is no guarantee of funding. There is an approved items list in Internal Documents with current pricing.

District Procurement

If your project purchases through district procurement, indicate yes to “Procurement” in your application. AEF will award you the completed purchase order and pay the district directly for the costs billed by the vendor. If your project includes additional items, AEF will award the recipient a check for the project budget fund remaining after the invoice has been paid. The recipient will need to submit receipts accounting for the use of the remaining funds.

Reader Rubric

Want to increase your chances of receiving a grant award? Review the evaluation rubric our grant reading teams use to score the four sections of your Proposal. CLICK HERE

  • Summary, 30 pts (3 10-point questions)
  • Purpose, 30 pts (3 10-point questions)
  • Rationale, 20 pts (2 10-point questions)
  • Evaluation, 20 pts (2 10-point questions)