Best Grants for K-12 Schools in Massachusetts

Early Literacy Consortium Grant

The purpose of this competitive grant program is to fund the development, launch, and continuation of partnerships between eligible sponsoring organizations and PK–12 districts to promote improved teacher preparation and development in evidence-based early literacy instruction and improved early literacy outcomes for PK–3 students. All students deserve access to high quality instruction, and it will take collaborative and innovative efforts on the part of both districts and educator preparation programs to ensure that PK–3 educators have the pre-service training as well as the ongoing professional development needed to well-serve Massachusetts students. The goal of this grant program is for both districts and sponsoring organizations to benefit from collaboration through multi-year consortia developed to impact early literacy teaching and learning through preparation of candidates and ultimately hiring and employment of effective Elementary, Early Childhood, and Moderate Disabilities PK–2/PK–8 teachers.

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) seeks to award Early Literacy Consortium grants to entities that:

Are committed to prioritizing literacy equity and excellence, and want to collaborate with districts and sponsoring organizations in their region to make this a reality

Demonstrate favorable conditions and the resources, including time and commitment, necessary to make and sustain meaningful partnerships that have the potential to improve student outcomes in early literacy

Bring together a diverse coalition of stakeholders committed to the activities articulated in the grant proposal, including but not limited to classroom educators, PK–12 administrators, higher education faculty and leadership, program supervisors, teacher candidates, and students where appropriate

Are actively investing in equity, inclusion, and culturally and linguistically sustaining literacy practices for all learners

Category 3 — Established Consortia Implementing Early Literacy Programming

Applicants in this category represent an established partnership with multiple sponsoring organizations and school districts with a clear, strategic plan for the consortium’s work.

K-12 schools and community centers in Massachusetts can receive support to establish educational orchards and gardens that promote horticulture, botany, and biology learning. United Charitable’s ReTreeUS program plants and maintains school and community orchards, providing experiential education resources that help youth become food growers and environmental stewards.

K-12 schools and education-focused 501(c)(3) organizations in Massachusetts can seek multi-year operating support up to US $150,000 for in-school education, arts education, immigrant services, and workforce development programs. With a mission to serve socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals, Clowes Fund prioritizes efforts in Suffolk, Middlesex, Essex, Worcester, and other communities with significant immigrant, refugee, and asylee populations.

The KeyBank Foundation Grants support nonprofit organizations focused on enhancing communities through education, workforce development, and affordable housing. Founded in 1969, the Foundation prioritizes diversity, financial capability, and sustainability. Their grants aim to empower individuals for success by improving access to resources, fostering economic inclusion, and creating safe environments. By partnering with community organizations, KeyBank Foundation seeks to make a measurable impact and ensure lasting positive change for families and small businesses.

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education provides leadership, oversight, funding, support, and accountability for the Commonwealth's approximately 400 school districts that educate close to 1 million public school children each year. We also oversees programs that serve 20,000 adult learners each year.

MA Farming Reinforces Education and Student Health with Coordination and Optimization of Resources and Partnerships (MA FRESH CORP)

Purpose

The purpose of this state-funded targeted grant program is to support MA FRESH CORP affiliates to ensure local food system activities - including local food system education and local procurement in Child Nutrition Programs - are strategically integrated into the classroom, cafeteria and community through investment in internal personnel or contracted partnerships that support institutionalized programs that promote food literacy. Grant funds will support further off-boarding technical assistance and guidance to support the retention of internal personnel and food system education workplans past the grant period.

Fund Use

MA FRESH CORP is designed to ensure local food system activities — including local food system education and local procurement in Child Nutrition Programs — are strategically integrated into the classroom, cafeteria and community through investment in internal personnel or contracted partnerships that support institutionalized programs. This funding seeks to support the retention of internal personnel and food system education workplans as awardees work to transition their programming model to other sustainable funding models.

Funding will be prioritized for the budget areas described below. Applicants may apply for up to 50% of the total funding expended for FY26 Massachusetts Farming Reinforces Education and Student Health Coordination and Optimization of Resources and PartnershipsMA FRESH CORP in the following budget categories. Total funding requests may not exceed $50,000.

• Professional Salaries: For the coordination and implementation of local food system education and/or local procurement by full-time, salaried and benefited positions, part-time positions, or for the expansion of hours/stipending of internal personnel - such as nutrition professionals, educators, or community/family stakeholders.
• Contracted Services: To provide technical assistance, coaching, professional development, the development of resources such as program protocols or curriculum and/or strategic planning consultation. The hiring of a contracted partner should be in service of cultivating program structures that elevate internal staff capacity and should not be used primarily to support the direct execution of direct farm to school programming by the contracted partner.
• Professional Development Expenses (Other Expenses): To attend farm to school, food literacy, agricultural or culinary oriented workshops, trainings, or conferences. Associated costs may include registration fees, travel fees, mileage, compensation/stipends for out-of-work time, or the cost of substitutes required to provide coverage for personnel attending professional development opportunities.

Equipment, supply, and infrastructure costs capped at 10% of the total budget request are allowable but will be contingent on budget availability once priority budget areas described above are funded for eligible applicants.

MA FRESH CORP awardees will be required to:

• participate in periodic grant meetings, professional development opportunities and technical assistance
• track local spending (dollar value) within Child Nutrition Programs during the grant period
• complete a funding succession plan

Priority will be given to MA FRESH CORP affiliates that:

• Have created a job description and/or consultant scope of work that ensures local food system activities are strategically integrated into the classroom, cafeteria and community
• Have current programming in all three core areas of farm to school: Classroom (such as food system curriculum and school garden activities), Cafeteria (such as local menu offerings) and Community (such as farm field trips, family engagement or food system partnerships).
• Have successfully onboarded farm to school personnel or contracted partners through MA FRESH CORP funding and are seeking to retain these personnel and contracted partnerships through the duration of the 2026-2027 school year
• Have effectively stewarded use of MA FRESH CORP funding awarded to date
• Are committed to identifying strategies for retaining farm to school personnel or contracted partners through alternative funding strategies outside of the MA FRESH CORP grant program
• Are willing to participate in program evaluation and off-boarding technical assistance activities, including the completion of a funding succession plan.

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education provides leadership, oversight, funding, support, and accountability for the Commonwealth's approximately 400 school districts that educate close to 1 million public school children each year. We also oversees programs that serve 20,000 adult learners each year.

MA Farming Reinforces Education and Student Health (FRESH)

Purpose

The purpose of this state funded competitive grant program is to encourage National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and Child Adult Food Care Program (CACFP) sponsors to start or expand their capacity to grow or procure local food and educate students, teachers, school nutrition professionals and staff about the local food system. Furthermore, this grant seeks to connect food system education to the availability of local foods served in school or early education meal programs through strategic planning and investment in internal staff positions and/or external partnerships.

Funding

Applicant proposals must be submitted in one of the following categories. Only one application will be accepted per Child Nutrition Program sponsor. Sponsors of both the NSLP and CACFP may only submit one application for consideration.

Applicants may apply for funding in one of the five following categories:

• New K–12 Farm to School Initiative Grants
• New Farm to Early Education Initiative Grants

["New" farm to school/early education initiatives engage in none or only one of the farm to school three "C's": Classroom (such as curriculum and school garden engagement), Cafeteria (such as local menu offerings) and Community (such as farm field trips or non-profit food system partnerships). Applicants that have been dormant in all farm to school activities for the last three years also qualify as "new."]

• Expanding K–12 Farm to School Initiative Grants
• Expanding Farm to Early Education Initiative Grants
• MA FRESH CORP Planning Grant

Fund Use

The program is designed to support K–12 and early education programs in food literacy initiatives that connect local food system education to the availability of local foods served in school or early education meal programs. Applicants will be asked to indicate all activities their MA FRESH application seeks to fund. Project activities may include, but are not limited to:

• Building a new garden for children
• Building a new indoor growing operation for children
• Developing classroom curriculums or lesson plans that support food literacy efforts
• Expanding in-school or child care programming to promote food literacy for children through gardening, cooking, taste tests and more
• Field trip(s) to local farm/food producers
• Expanding before/after school/child care programming that supports food literacy, and exposure to local foods for children and families
• Completing farm to school strategic planning, including the development of an action plan, job description(s) for food literacy coordination, or a scope of work for a contractor to cultivating program structures that elevate internal staff capacity in food literacy
• Professional development and training for educators to bring food literacy activities or curriculum to their classrooms
• Professional development and training for school nutrition professionals to integrate local, unprocessed or minimally processed ingredients into program meals
• Funds can only be used to fund new staff time or salaries because of new or expanded initiatives.

The McKeen Fund Grant is dedicated to enhancing the lives of vulnerable populations, including seniors and disadvantaged children and families. This private fund supports medical, educational, and social service programs, prioritizing initiatives that cannot secure outside funding. The Fund emphasizes grants for capital projects and specific programs aligned with its mission, while also engaging in direct charitable activities. Organizations eligible must be 501(c)(3) public charities, primarily in Florida, Massachusetts, and New York.

Early Literacy Consortium Grant

The purpose of this competitive grant program is to fund the development, launch, and continuation of partnerships between eligible sponsoring organizations and PK–12 districts to promote improved teacher preparation and development in evidence-based early literacy instruction and improved early literacy outcomes for PK–3 students. All students deserve access to high quality instruction, and it will take collaborative and innovative efforts on the part of both districts and educator preparation programs to ensure that PK–3 educators have the pre-service training as well as the ongoing professional development needed to well-serve Massachusetts students. The goal of this grant program is for both districts and sponsoring organizations to benefit from collaboration through multi-year consortia developed to impact early literacy teaching and learning through preparation of candidates and ultimately hiring and employment of effective Elementary, Early Childhood, and Moderate Disabilities PK–2/PK–8 teachers.

Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) seeks to award Early Literacy Consortium grants to entities that:

Are committed to prioritizing literacy equity and excellence, and want to collaborate with districts and sponsoring organizations in their region to make this a reality

Demonstrate favorable conditions and the resources, including time and commitment, necessary to make and sustain meaningful partnerships that have the potential to improve student outcomes in early literacy

Bring together a diverse coalition of stakeholders committed to the activities articulated in the grant proposal, including but not limited to classroom educators, PK–12 administrators, higher education faculty and leadership, program supervisors, teacher candidates, and students where appropriate

Are actively investing in equity, inclusion, and culturally and linguistically sustaining literacy practices for all learners

Category 2 — Newly Established Consortia in the Planning Stage of Launching Early Literacy Programming

Applicants in this category have an established partnership with multiple sponsoring organizations and public school districts (four or more organizations in total) in their region and are designing and planning to implement programming that will advance effective early literacy instruction.

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education provides leadership, oversight, funding, support, and accountability for the Commonwealth's approximately 400 school districts that educate close to 1 million public school children each year. We also oversees programs that serve 20,000 adult learners each year.

Civics Teaching and Learning

The purpose of this competitive grant program is to support teaching and learning related to civics, as required by Chapter 296 of the Acts of 2018 and emphasized in the 2018 History and Social Science Framework.

This grant supports LEAs to develop and/or select curriculum materials, implement professional development, and design other enriching learning experiences intended to further students' civic knowledge, skills and dispositions. LEAs may propose to collaborate with vendors to support this work. Proposals may include interdisciplinary elements or other opportunities for civic learning beyond the history/social science classroom.

In addition, the grant supports implementation of grade 8 and high school civics projects, the hosting of local civics project showcases, participation in the Massachusetts Civics Project Showcases, and other enrichment activities focused on meaningful civic learning.

For details about the civics projects and other civics instructional information, please visit Civics.

This grant is structured as a two-year program. LEAs awarded funding in FY27 (Year 1) and contingent upon available funds and satisfactory progress awardees may apply only for continuation funding in FY28 (Year 2) to support the next phase of their projects. Continuation funding is not guaranteed. Contingent upon available funds, a new cohort of LEAs may be selected through the FY28 competitive RFP process. FY27 awardees will not be eligible to apply under the new FY28 competitive RFP.

Priorities

DESE seeks to fund civics teaching and learning initiatives that exemplify:

• Equity. Grant-funded projects should increase all students' access to high-quality civics education experiences and work to address historical inequities where they exist. In addition, projects should provide students with culturally and linguistically sustaining learning experiences that value and affirm their identities and linguistic resources, center student and community agency, and develop students' critical perspectives. Supports for multilingual learners should be developed in alignment with the 2020 WIDA English Language Development Framework.

• Sustainability. Grant-funded projects should take steps toward long-term enhancements to civics education, including, but not limited to, the development of supportive instructional leadership structures. Investments such as professional development for educators or acquisition of needed instructional materials can provide benefits long past the period of this grant, as opposed to "one-off" activities.

• Civic deeper learning. Grant-funded projects should help students master civic knowledge, skills and dispositions, appropriate to grade-level standards, through creative agency and opportunities to actively "do civics." Civic action should be student-led and meaningful to students as individuals, with relevance to their identities and lived experiences. Civic learning should be an integrated part of the larger curriculum, not isolated experiences, lessons, or units.