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Community Corner

Schools receive $300,000 in grants from Lake Washington Schools Foundation

Redmond, WA.  Lake Washington Schools Foundation has awarded over $300,000 in grants to teachers and schools across the Lake Washington School District for the 2013-14 school year. The foundation is funding the school district’s New Teacher Support Program for the first time, while it continues to support the rollout of the new STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) -based Signature Programs and to fund long-standing programs such as Reaching for Success classroom innovation grants, the LINKS mentoring program and the Access Fund for low-income middle and high school students. Grants awarded to the school district from the foundation included a $49,000 Aspire grant from the AT&T Foundation to support high school completion and college-readiness for low-income students.

For the first time, the foundation is partnering with the Lake Washington School District to support 80 second-year teachers in 36 schools through the district’s highly effective and award-winning New Teacher Support Program (NTSP). Foundation funding of $18,000 per year for three years replaces a state grant which is no longer available. Research from the New Teacher Center shows that teachers in their second year make their biggest growth in instructional practice when provided with strategic and focused learning.

Peter Kirk Elementary teacher Christa Fagan said, “The NTSP helped me become a better teacher because I had constant support from my mentor, and release days to observe experienced teachers. My mentor was always there to help with lesson planning, to give me ideas and just be a listening ear when I needed to talk. Being able to see other teachers at work has been extremely beneficial to my teaching practices because for me, one of the best ways to learn is by watching how other teachers teach.”

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Lake Washington Schools Foundation raises funds from community members, local government and businesses, civic groups and private foundations in order to support academic excellence and success for all students across the Lake Washington School District.

Community members interested in supporting student growth and success can take part in the foundation’s Back to School campaign, which is more than halfway to its goal of raising $22,000 by December 31, or give to Lake Washington Schools Foundation through their United Way or workplace giving campaign. Visit www.lwsf.org/donate to give.

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For more information about specific grants and other programs funded by the foundation, visit www.lwsf.org/programs

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