Springdale District Wins Race To The Top Grant

$25 Million Grant Is Largest The District Has Received

— Santa Claus came early this year to Springdale School District as officials learned Tuesday they had been awarded a $25.8 million federal grant.

The Race to the Top Grant was one of five awarded by the U.S. Department of Education to districts across the nation, said Cameron French, director of press operations for the department, during a conference call that included Arne Duncan, U.S. secretary of education.

At A Glance

What Is Race To The Top?

The Race To The Top Program was created in 2009 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It aims to improve student achievement and provide students with skills for college and their future careers. Grants are given as part of the program to help school districts meet goals.

Source: www2.ed.gov

At A Glance

2013 Grant Recipients

Houston, Texas, Independent School District: $29,999,782

Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative (18 rural districts): $29,999,203

Springdale School District: $25, 878,038

Clarendon County, S.C., School District 2: $24,980,856

Clarksdale, Miss., Municipal School District: $10 million

Source: www.ed.gov

At A Glance

How Will It Be Used?

Springdale School District plans to use the grant money on various programs.

Seat time waiver pilot: $238,713

Schedule: $190,462

Advisory: $22,855

Personal learning plan and student led conferences: $26,664

Multiple pathways to graduation: $639,319

Centralized early learning: $1,948,050

Technology acquisition, integration: $17,944,868

High quality professional development: $3,151,824

Parent academy: $303,927

Strengthening professional learning communities: $157,449

Educator coaching, evaluation: $1,253,903

Total: $25,878,038

Source: Springdale School District

This is the largest grant the district has received, said Jim Rollins, superintendent. About two-thirds of the grant money will go toward increased use of technology. School officials want each student to be able to use their own, school-owned device, be it an iPad or a laptop.

“It really is an enormous Christmas gift for the students of Springdale,” Rollins said.

A portion of the money will go to expanding the Environmental and Spatial Technologies program in the district, Rollins said. Five more programs likely will be added. Eventually, the program will be in all schools and will become a districtwide academy focused on project-based learning, he said.

A portion of the money will help develop the School of Innovation, a plan officials are working on, Rollins said. The school, if instituted, will focus on an environment where students learn at their own pace and graduate from high school with a college level associate’s degree.

“We’ve been extremely focused for many years on drastically improving student achievement,” Rollins said during the conference call.

There were 11 projects Springdale officials outlined on the application for the grant, according to documents included with the application. Many of the projects aren’t new to the district, but need to be improved upon and expanded, said Marsha Jones, associate superintendent for curriculum, instruction, accountability and education innovation.

“Each project was part of the district’s overarching design,” she said.

Rollins said he plans for these projects to be put in place and completed in the next three years.

The district was a finalist for the grant last year, Rollins said. He said they used what they learned from the experience in this year’s application process.

Officials at the U.S. Department of Education received about 200 applications from school districts across the nation in October, said Duncan during the conference call. The grant money is meant to help districts improve student achievement.

“These winners shine a light on the innovative work going on across the country,” Duncan said.

Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., congratulated Springdale in a news release Tuesday.

“Springdale has proven time and time again that they have the vision and educators needed to help our students succeed,” according to the news release. “With this funding, I know they’ll continue to excel when it comes to ensuring our students are college and career ready.”

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