ACSC Wins Competitive Grants to Support Student Learning

In Avon Schools, our mission is ALL belong, learn, and grow. In recent weeks, we have been overjoyed to share several of the major academic and extracurricular accolades that our students and educators have earned.

In the midst of all this excitement, district leaders have been hard at work behind the scenes attempting to find ways to maintain and even increase our momentum so we can do even more on behalf of students and educators.

To that end, we're excited to announce that Avon Schools has recently won three competitive grants totaling over $500,000.

"Our leadership team has done exceptional work over the last few weeks writing competitive state grant applications and we have recently learned that several of these have been funded," says Superintendent Dr. Scott Wyndham. "I’m so thankful for the leadership in our district that actively pursues additional revenue to support our students and our staff. These grants will have significant impact on our schools!"

In an email to staff, Dr. Wyndham shared the following details about these grants:

• Robotics Grant – Dr. Dustin LeMay led staff from AHS and our middle schools in writing a Department Of Education (DOE) grant focused on robotics. We were awarded $31,000 to provide opportunities that increase interest and improve STEM skills through participation in competitive robotics programs. In addition to our AHS teams, both middle schools will have competitive teams this school year.
• Special Education Behavior Grant – Ms. Susie Hurt, our Director of Special Education, wrote a grant with Amy Hedges, ACSC Behavior Consultant, and received $25,000 for additional behavior training for our instructional assistants. This funding will allow trainings to occur throughout this school year, including six district-wide trainings for all instructional assistants, training specific for our STRIVE assistants, and additional training for staff in de-escalating behaviors. Additional training for our support staff in the area of behavior is a common need that we hear regularly from staff and this funding will allow us more ability to provide them this important training.
• Science of Reading Grant – Mrs. Carrie Alday, Director of Elementary Teaching and Learning, led a group of elementary instructional coaches and administrators to write a grant to DOE to fund additional supports for our students based on the Science of Reading (a big focus of Indiana legislators and the Indiana Dept. of Education). ACSC was awarded almost $450,000 to be spent over the next year to improve our literacy instruction. These funds will support materials, resources, and professional development centered around evidence-based instructional practices to improve reading skills at the K-3 level. 

We are confident that these grant funds will increase our momentum, leading to even more learning and success.