The Meijer Foundation and the Education Reform Initiative to launch the Meijer Good Schools for Grand Rapids program - a competitive grant for public elementary schools in the city of Grand Rapids.
Schools Must Pass Rigorous Criteria to Qualify for Grant
GRAND RAPIDS, MI October 27, 2006 . . . Public elementary schools in the City of Grand Rapids can receive monetary incentives from a new education reform program, created by The Education Reform Initiative (ERI) and funded by The Meijer Foundation. The Meijer Good Schools for Grand Rapids program identifies nine indicators of success and invites the Grand Rapids Public elementary school principals whose schools have attained or maintained these standards to apply for funding.
The Meijer Foundation will donate a maximum of $1million over the next three years to launch the Meijer Good Schools for Grand Rapids program. The Grand Rapids Education Reform Initiative (ERI) developed Good Schools for Grand Rapids as its signature program to reward schools for good performance and build support for schools in the City of Grand Rapids. Selected elementary schools will be eligible to receive monetary grants up to $75,000. The grant will be administered by the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, a partner in ERI.
The Meijer Foundation has approved a grant of $500,000 to fund the first year of the program – 2007 – and then approved matching grants of $250,000 to help fund the second and third years. After the initial three years, The Meijer Foundation will evaluate the effectiveness of the program to determine its continued support.
“We all know that the future of this community depends on the quality of our education,” said Fred Meijer, founder and Chairman Emeritus of Meijer, Inc., and Trustee of The Meijer Foundation, “and we are pleased to be able to support this very important initiative that addresses education quality right when it starts, in the elementary schools. The Meijer Foundation is very hopeful that its donation to launch the Meijer Good Schools for Grand Rapids will help promote significant achievements in the public schools in the City of Grand Rapids.”
The goals of the Meijer Good Schools for Grand Rapids program are to:
- Showcase and reward high performing and improving schools in the City of Grand Rapids.
- Promote systemic education reform through the use of performance measures.
- Support successful school principals.
- Raise community expectations for student achievement.
- Build a network of community funders committed to education reform.
- Improve community decision making about schools through locally collected unbiased data.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with this generous grant from The Meijer Foundation to launch the now named Meijer Good Schools for Grand Rapids,” according to Diana Sieger, President of the Grand Rapids Community Foundation. “It underscores Fred Meijer’s, and the entire Meijer family and their company’s continuous support for this community.”
The structure of the Meijer Good Schools for Grand Rapids program uses a model similar to the Skillman Foundation in Detroit, that establishes nine “Benchmarks for Student Success” to evaluate performance. The “Benchmarks” are a collection of quantitative and qualitative measures that are based on the Blue Ribbon Schools program of the U.S. Department of Education and the Baldrige Education Criteria for Performance Excellence. The nine “Benchmarks for Student Success” are:
- Student achievement
- Student attendance
- Leadership and educational vitality
- Data-driven decision making
- Rigorous curriculum and instruction
- Student focus and supports
- School culture
- Professional community
- School, family and community partnerships
Dr. Bernard Taylor, the new Grand Rapids Public Schools Superintendent praised the Meijer Good Schools for Grand Rapids program and said that he has had initial conversations with several elementary school principals in the Grand Rapids Public School System, “and they are looking forward to sharing their schools’ academic progress and applying for the awards this January.”
While schools must complete an application that addresses all nine benchmarks, there are specific baseline criteria schools must also meet in order to receive a grant. The grants are divided into three categories with “High Performing Schools” being the highest and receiving up to $75,000. “Improving Schools” can receive grants of up to $50,000, while the third category, “Aspiring Schools,” receive grants up to $25,000. A fourth category, “Promising Schools,” receives no grant award but will be recognized for making significant progress in meeting certain criteria.
Applications for the 2007 Meijer Good Schools for Grand Rapids grants are due on Tuesday, January 30, 2007. Announcements of the Good Schools’ awards will be announced in mid-May.
Meijer Good Schools for Grand Rapids was adapted and created by ERI as its signature program and is a cornerstone of its efforts to provide leadership in the community wide effort to improve schools in the City of Grand Rapids. Established in 2002, The Education Reform Initiative is a collaborative partnership of the Frey Foundation, Grand Rapids Community Foundation, the Sebastian Family Foundation, Steelcase Foundation and the Wege Foundation and is committed to the long-term goal of ensuring that all children in the City of Grand Rapids have access to a quality education.
For more information about the Meijer Good Schools for Grand Rapids program, please contact Roberta King, Vice President of PR and Marketing at the Grand Rapids Community Foundation, at (616) 454 -1751 or Mary McLoughlin (616) 698-0748.