Urban Education Investment Portfolio

Arts Expansion Fund at EdVestors

School on the Move Prize

Who may apply?

All public (district, pilot and charter), private or independent K-12 schools in Boston, Massachusetts, as well as nonprofits working in those schools, are welcome to submit a Concept Paper for a two-year grant. Eligible schools must serve a significant percentage (50% or more) of students from low-income families. Out of School Time (OST) programming is not eligible for funding, as EdVestors focuses primarily on in-school change initiatives.

EdVestors' first Strategic Initiative is the BPS Arts Expansion Initiative. Schools and their community arts partners may apply to expand arts opportunities within a school or group of schools, in keeping with the recommendations of the 2009 BPS arts expansion planning report. Funding may be prioritized to schools where not all students are currently receiving a minimum of once-weekly arts instruction, based on the annual inventory of arts expansion progress.

Only invited Boston Public Schools (district or pilot) are eligible to apply for the Prize, which is based on the quantitative analysis of student performance data, followed by a qualitative review of school improvement strategies.

When are the deadlines to apply?

Concept Papers are due each October using this format. A smaller number of initiatives will be invited to submit a full proposal in January for two-year grants announced each June.

Applications are due March 30, 2010 for funding to be released in June. The application can be found here.

Eligible schools will be notified in April of each year, with an application deadline in mid-June.

What types of projects are funded?

EdVestors invests in school-based capacity-building initiatives, both early-stage and more established, to strengthen teaching and learning in schools. Initiatives generally pilot, implement or expand promising or proven models in improving student academic outcomes. Funded initiatives may include multi-school or District-wide efforts that impact students or educators in more than one school or setting as well as single-school turnarounds.

The BPS Arts Expansion Fund supports the introduction or expansion of discipline-based sequential arts instruction as well as arts curricular integration initiatives, with the goal of expanding the number of BPS students with access to arts instruction during the school day.

Each year, the $100,000 School on the Move Prize honors one of Boston's most improving schools. Winning schools are selected through a quantitative and qualitative review incorporating both MCAS data and schools' own description of strategies pursued to achieve their success.

What is a typical grant amount?

Portfolio Grants average between $50,000 to $60,000 per year for two years.

One-year Arts Expansion grants range from $10,000 to $25,000.

The winning school receives $100,000 to continue their school-improvement efforts and share best practices.

Past recipients

For the EdVestors 2010 Investment Portfolio, click here.

For the list of 2010 BPS Arts Expansion Fund grant recipients, click here.

For a profile of prior School on the Move Prize winners, click here.