The New Jersey Children’s Foundation (NJCF) puts kids at the forefront of our mission, no matter what school they attend. We support both district and charter schools to help students live better lives and access greater opportunities.
That is why we are so excited to announce our biggest grant project yet–a $1 million program entitled “Accelerating Outcomes for Exceptional Learners” to help Newark schools improve the quality of education they provide to students with disabilities. This innovative new project, which was recently featured in Chalkbeat and TAPinto, allows all Newark public schools – district and charter – to submit grant proposals for projects of up to $100,000 at their school.
We know there’s room for all schools to innovate on programs for our exceptional learners and to strive toward equity in every building. In particular, we’re interested in supporting schools that are addressing the ever-increasing rate of autism in Newark, as well as schools that are quickly moving multilingual learners toward English language acquisition.
Mayor Ras Baraka said this about the program: “This grant money goes so much further than simply bolstering in-school support for our children who learn differently, or are striving to become English speaking. It reaches into their spirit, as they achieve progressively higher academic goals,” he said. “All of Newark is grateful for NJCF’s gift to our children.”
Senator Teresa Ruiz said: “I applaud NJCF for targeting philanthropic dollars to help serve students with disabilities and multilingual language learners,” she said. “As a long-time advocate for our students, I am grateful for this investment in their future.”
And City Councilman Anibal Ramos said: “We need to support all kids in Newark regardless of the schools they attend, By providing a financial incentive to schools to think outside the box, NJCF is giving schools an opportunity I encourage them to take full advantage of.”
If you’re a Newark public school leader and want your school to be among the first to receive the request for proposal, send us an email a Sarah@njchildren.org.