During COVID-19 and school closures, the Schools Fund will review submissions for Strategic Impact grants on a monthly basis. Applications will be due on the 1st of each month. We are seeking to fund projects that respond to the COVID-19 crisis and address racial disparities that have worsened due to the crisis. In order to focus resources on the broadest impact and highest need, Classroom Grants are suspended for this year. Details on grant requests for this year can be found on the Strategic Impact Grant page.
Inspired by the accomplishments of Berkeley High graduate and award-winning Bay Area journalist Belva Davis, and with the support of the Herb Singer Fund, the Schools Fund created a summer fellowship program in 2012 to encourage BUSD teachers to aspire to the highest levels of professionalism and creativity in their field. These grants serve to broaden teacher personal and professional experiences with professional development opportunities beyond those that normal budgets and time may allow. The Fellowship may cover course fees, transportation and living expenses, professional materials, and project documentation costs. 2018 Summer Fellows and their projects are listed here, and 2017 Summer Fellows and their projects are listed here.
Summer Fellow applicants must have completed three years of teaching in BUSD. Summer Fellows who do not return to BUSD in the fall after their fellowship will be required to return the grant money awarded. Typical grant amounts for individual Summer Fellowships do not exceed $2500.
2019 Fellows: If you have not completed your Follow-Up form, please do so as soon as possible. If you have already completed your Follow-Up, please let us know how your fellowship influenced your classroom this year by filling out your Year Later Follow-Up form by end of the school year.
The Berkeley Public Schools Fund is investing the lion’s share of our grantmaking resources during this year’s COVID crisis into Strategic Impact grants.
Our goals are two-fold:
The Berkeley Public Schools Fund will fund proposals in the following two categories:
Emergency Response to COVID-19, including:
With priority to district-wide proposals
Disrupting Systemic Racial Disparities, including:
With priority to district-wide and multi-school proposals
I. Focal Areas & Audience | To what extent does the proposal support Schools Fund’s stated focal areas/sub-categories? To what degree does it support African American and Latin/x students and/or their families?
Does the proposal:
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II. Equity-Explicit | To what extent is racial equity an explicit part of the project/proposal?
Does the proposal:
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III. Systems Change | To what degree does the proposal drive strategic change across the system/district?
Does the proposal:
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IV. Implementation Success | To what degree do the project players, timeline, and budget suggest a strong likelihood of success?
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V. Project Learning | To what degree does the proposal demonstrate best practices in using data to drive smarter and more equitable results? Does it:
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Timing: For the 2020-21 school year, the Schools Fund will review Strategic Impact proposals on a monthly basis for the fall, with proposals due on the 1st of each month. The first deadline will be September 1. Proposals will continue to be accepted through the winter on a bimonthly basis, starting in January.
Dialogue: The Schools Fund is increasingly interested in engaging applicants in conversation around proposals in advance of funding determinations. In addition, the Schools Fund may also seek out associated students and/or district partners to learn more about landscape of the project/proposal.
Strategic Impact Grant funds cannot be used to create, expand, or partially fund District positions on a temporary or permanent basis.
If your proposal is going to include hourly pay to BUSD staff and/or subs, please determine the following information and contact Fiscal Services to develop an accurate cost estimate.
Once a grant has been approved, payments can be requested by completing a Strategic Impact Grant Check Request form.
Please complete Strategic Impact Follow-Up Reports by the end of the school year or contact the Schools Fund to make other arrangements.