Grants

Introduction

The Wethersfield Education Foundation (WEF) provides grants to educators in the Wethersfield Public Schools.  Our mission is to provide support for educational projects that directly benefit students and enhance the excellence of the Wethersfield community.  Applications will be judged on their creativity and innovation, as well as the degree of support of the curriculum and its impact on student learning.  The Foundation will consider all grants but give more weight to those that benefit a more significant number of students.  Additionally, we are accepting grant requests from community organizations whose missions align with the Wethersfield Public Schools and will benefit the children of Wethersfield.

The WEF is currently seeking applications for various grant opportunities for the 2026-2027 school year.  They are:

• Classroom Innovation

• School-wide Initiative

• District-wide Initiative

• Community Grants (Community Grants will be awarded to Wethersfield organizations that propose projects that support and enrich the goals, mission, vision, and plan of the Wethersfield Public Schools and benefit the children of Wethersfield.)

Important General Information

• Collaboration among teachers, departments, grade levels, and schools is encouraged.

• Creativity is encouraged.

• The more students who benefit from a grant award, the more likely it will be funded.

• Grants for living things must include plans for year-round maintenance.

• For grants involving field trips (virtual or in-person), include the date, if available, and all-inclusive costs.

Eligibility

Administrators, specialists, classroom teachers, and representatives from community organizations can submit applications directly to the WEF.

Application Instructions

Applications must be submitted no later than Thursday, April 30, 2026. The WEF will review all proposals and announce recipients by Monday, June 1, 2026. The money is expected to be available in June to plan for the 2025-2026 school year.

**For clarity, below is an example of a successfully awarded grant that includes the type of information we seek.

Important Information

• All awardees must agree to allow the WEF to publicize the project on their website, the WPS website, and any other media outlets as determined by the WEF.  WEF will respect student publication guidelines.

• Awards will be made in accordance with Board of Education policies and curriculum.

• Final reports summarizing how the awards were spent will be due to the WEF from the recipient no later than May 30, 2027.  Prior recipients who have not submitted their grant update may not be considered for future grants.

• Before any changes to an awarded grant proposal, you must request and receive approval in writing from the WEF or risk losing funding. (Example: the performer you arranged has a family emergency and cannot reschedule).

Allowable Expenses

• Educational programming, such as author visits, visits by scientists, performers, artists, etc.

• Reusable Materials (tied to a specific project or educational goal)

• Books for independent reading (no textbooks)

• Technology as approved by the Wethersfield IT Department.  If you are not sure, please ask in advance. (Think robots, not iPads.)

Non-allowable Expenses

• Refreshments

• Teacher in-service or professional development fees

• Teacher compensation

• Furniture

• On-going expenses that will continue beyond the academic year

• Textbooks

**EXAMPLE:

Straw Rocket Launchers & Shake Table for STEAM Events at Webb

Total Students Impacted: Whole school (320) and possibly other schools as well

Total Cost:  $1101.60

3 straw rocket launchers ($585)

Additional precision straws (10 packs) $220

Shake Table  $215

Shipping $81.60

Educational STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) activities engage students in inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking.   When students participate in STEAM activities the process-based, hands-on approach to learning creates connections between the standards and real-world applications. These learning activities boost creativity, problem solving skills, and social skills that are woven throughout the elementary science and math curricula.  Webb Elementary is planning STEAM events for the current and future school years, beginning with a school-wide STEAM Day in June.  All students will participate with teachers, staff, and additional parent volunteers helping to facilitate the activities.

• The WEF grant funds will be used to purchase three straw rocket launchers, additional precision straws for students to build straw rockets, and a shake table that tests structures to see how they withstand seismic forces.  Students make predictions, collaborate and use principles of engineering to design and make a straw rocket.  They test their rockets using the straw rocket launchers, and make adjustments to both the rockets and the angle of the launcher to make the rocket travel farther.  These same science and math concepts are used with the shake table.  Students collaborate to build a structure, then use the shake table to test how sound the structure is.  Both of these activities build on the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core State Math Standards across grade levels.  These materials and activities will be used by all grade levels at Webb, and will also be loaned out to the other four elementary schools as needed for their STEAM events.