2024-2025

Take a look at the full list of grant recipients for the 2024-2025 school year.

Elementary School

Grants

  • Lauren Kelly Talanian, Jen Root, Niki Duffy, Caitlin Golden, Hannah Anderson, Emily von der Heyde, Deborah Comer, Katy Walther, Kelly Grieco, Sarah Ostler

    Amount Funded: $7,540.00

    This grant provides funding for a set of 105 blocks made of soft, lightweight, and waterproof non-toxic foam in a variety of shapes (bricks, cubes, cylinders, and connectors), and for storage of the blocks for easy access on Claypit Hill playgrounds.  This grant will allow students of all ages and abilities to create innovative and creative structures while collaborating and playing together, and provides an alternative to a physical playground.

  • Jennifer Socha, Meghan Sullivan, Kelly Grieco, Sarah Gordon, Sarah Ostler

    Amount Funded: $3,946.11

    This grant funds 15 white board tables for K-5 students in the ILC, SKIP, and LBC programs housed at Claypit but available for district-wide students.  Students in these programs represent a diverse range of needs and learning styles, and white board tables provide seamless, transition-free, inclusive opportunities for students to brainstorm ideas, collaborate, and engage in kinesthetic learning.  For educators, the tables offer opportunities to differentiate instruction, offer quick checks for understanding, and develop flexible lesson plans.  Additionally, the tables provide space for students and educators to work across all curriculum areas in an accessible manner.

  • Alissa Gillis

    Amount Funded: $10,854.00

    This grant funds shelving and cabinets for the Claypit Hill art room.  These new storage solutions will provide accessibility, ensure safety, improve mobility, and foster independent learning for all students.  The room transformation supports the Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) instructional model, an innovative approach to art education that centers the student as the artist and considers the classroom as their studio.

  • Shelly Fraser

    Amount Funded: $16,187.00

    This grant funds an adapted traverse climbing wall at the Loker School.  The adaptive wall hand holds make the wall inclusive to all students, regardless of their varying physical needs.  It will add a fun, engaging, and motivating way for students to build skills and confidence while improving overall gross motor skills.  

  • Jennifer Mohr and Brian Jones

    Amount Funded: $3,280.00

    This grant funds improvements to the existing Loker garden. Improvements include raising the height of the current garden beds to accommodate additional varieties of fruits and vegetables, and building a permanent fence to enclose the garden and make it more secure. The Loker garden is a special spot for students to use their classroom learning and apply it in a hands-on, real-world way. Throughout the years, students have grown many varieties of fruits and vegetables and have delighted in learning about sustainable gardening practices.

  • Rebecca Poulo, Michael Kotin, Daniel Gorsky, Kelly Hagan

    Amount Funded: $19,920.00

    This grant funds the completion of the white board installation required for the Building Thinking Classrooms model of math instruction. Building Thinking Classrooms is a research-based instructional approach to teaching math that increases students’ participation and engagement. Students are more likely to play with ideas and take a risk when working on a nonpermanent vertical surface.  This funding allows the entire math department to align its practices and maximize its impact on students.

  • Emily Anderson, Carrie Dirmeikis, Meeghan Peirce

    Amount Funded: $2,318.23

    This grant funds two classroom sets of sturdy, portable, waterproof, and stackable stools for the 8th grade English classrooms. Use of these stools aims to make outdoor learning more accessible and provides more flexibility for small group indoor learning. In addition, this grant funds two high quality mats to stack the stools on top of when not in use.

Middle School Grants

High School Grants

  • Ed DeHoratius, Nic Patrie, Marc Lefebvre
    Amount Funded: $1,600.00

    This grant funds two new 3D printers for the MakerSpace to replace outdated models. These new 3D printers will speed student completion of projects as well as provide more opportunities to refine their iterations. The printers are integral parts of the Innovation curriculum and the

    Robotics team work, and their use will be expanded to allow access to include more of the high school. 

  • Dalia Dinno, Mary Lee York, Heidi Friedlander, Jess Imbornone

    Amount Funded: $21,348.00

    This grant provides funding to equip the high school biology classrooms with 18 digital microscopes to enhance student engagement and scientific inquiry. The microscopes will allow for hands-on, technology-enhanced learning, fostering innovative educational experiences by integrating technology to improve student outcomes. Expected benefits include improved academic performance, increased engagement, and the development of skills critical for advanced research. 

  • Allyson Mizogouchi and Brian Jones

    Amount Funded: $7,500.00

    This grant will allow for professional development for all elementary, WMS, and WHS faculty. Three workshops will be run by Sarah Ward at Cognitive Connection during Super Wednesdays in the 25-26 school year. Focused on tools and strategies to support the development of students’ executive functioning in all learning contexts, one workshop will allow Ms. Ward to deepen work she did with elementary staff during the 24-25 school year and two workshops will give WMS and WHS staff the opportunity to learn new tools and strategies to engage students and to help them learn more effectively  and independently. 

District-wide Grants