An initiative to train and create a CPS team that will provide consistent, collaborative team-based support for all students who may be struggling at school by utilizing the evidence-based Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS) model. We are looking for a fresh approach to supporting students who may be struggling. We believe that Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS), an evidence based model of psychosocial treatment, could be the fresh approach we are looking for. It enables kids and caregivers to better communicate in order to solve academic, social, or emotional challenges a child may be experiencing. It ensures that kids get what they need, and are treated equitably in schools when they are in need of support.

Applicant: arah Thorne and Kristyn Stem

Schools: Horace Mann

Date Approved: June 2023

Amount: $4,696.92

How can all second graders have just right reading at home if not all have access to online resources? Decodable books, selected by their teachers to practice the skills they have learned at home! With OG training for problem solving instruction!  During the summer of 2023, teachers will attend the Orton Gillingham professional development. At the completion of the professional development, second grade teachers will meet to modify and improve the scope of sequence of phonics instruction, including a more robust intervention available to a larger number of students. When the books arrive at school, teachers will sort and plan for the best times to send each set of books home with students.

Applicant: Karen Sandison

Schools: Horace Mann

Date Approved: June 2023

Amount: $17,905.76

The social workers participated in a Group Games PD (NSF grant) where we all recently learned how to take common games and "glow them up" for use in our general education and special education groups. We feel invigorated and can't wait to use our new knowledge! In collaborating, we realized that we don't all have the same games, and the ones we have are often outdated, or games we've inherited (there is not a budget for these supplies). We plan to use our new learning with the games we do have immediately on ongoing as we refresh our resources. We'd like to update our games to reflect the diversity of our students (i.e. the newest Guess Who is racially diverse) including race, culture, and social emotional needs. Many of the social workers depend on the generosity of families in our community to donate their old games, and some don't have that resource. We hope this will level the playing field for all the K-5 schools.

Applicant: Nicki Eastburn

Schools: Elementary

Date Approved: June 2023

Amount: $3,900

Burr School will strengthen and expand its Anti-Racism Curriculum by revising and adding content, aligning it vertically across all grades, and integrating it with lessons in social emotional learning, social studies, critical literacy, and more.  Burr’s DEI curriculum, created in 2020, consists of three lessons per grade and one school-wide lesson. While the lessons are meaningful, DEI should not be limited to four lessons; rather it should be woven into and across our school. Since 2020, a plethora of DEI resources for educators have emerged; by exploring these resources and creating a more comprehensive approach, we will integrate an equity-lens into all our work and help staff and students to understand how it all relates.  

Applicant: Alice Wong Tucker

Schools: Burr

Date Approved: June 2023

Amount: $3,398.65