Mini Grants

OVERVIEW

The Interschool Council (ISC) Mini Grant Program began in the spring of 1992 when two ISC Mini Grants were awarded for the 1992-93 school year. Based on the results of our 30th-year assessment of the program, some changes have recently been made. There will be two application periods for the 2024-25 Mini Grants: one in the spring as was traditional, and another in the fall as will be continued hereafter. The applications will no longer be blinded for review.

The goals of the program remain the same: to support creative and innovative approaches to teaching, and to support the personal and academic development of Lower Merion School District (LMSD) students. All LMSD Home and School Associations (HSAs) generously contribute to the Interschool Council Mini Grant Program annually. For the 2024-25 ISC Mini Grants an additional $2000 has been donated by the Education Foundation of Lower Merion.

APPLICATION PROCESS AND TIMETABLE

Fall Applications

June 2024 – Fall Invitation to Apply

• The ISC, via LMSD administration, notifies its staff via email about the opportunity to apply for an ISC Mini Grant.
• Application, guidelines and past projects are posted on the ISC page of the LMSD website.
• HSA presidents and ISC representatives are notified that the "Invitation to Apply" has been sent to the LMSD professional staff.

Mid-October, 2024 - Deadline to Submit Fall Applications

• Staff must submit applications on or before this date.  
• Fall Application Form will become available in June.

October 2024 - Fall Application Review and Selection

• All applications are first vetted by the LMSD Administration.
• The Review Committee is comprised of a diverse group of LMSD administrators and parents/guardians.

November 2024 - Grant Awards Are Announced

• All applicants will receive email notification as to the status of their application: fully funded, partially funded, not funded.
• The awardees may begin implementing their grants after they have received their letter and the LMSD Board of Directors has approved the awards.

All Applications

May 30, 2025 – All 2024-25 Mini Grant Feedback Forms Due

• Each mini grant award comes with a commitment to submit a Feedback Form no later than one month after the completion of the funded project and at the latest by May 30th.

June 1, 2025 – All 2024-25 Mini Grant Reimbursement Forms Due

• Reimbursement requests and receipts are to be submitted via this Reimbursement Form.

APPLICATION:

1. The goal of the Interschool Council Mini Grant Program is to support creative and innovative approaches to teaching and to support the personal and academic development of LMSD students.
2. Applications for the 2024-25 Mini Grants will be accepted in the spring (as in previous years) as well as in the fall (new this year). Since both application periods are for the same award year, any particular application can only be submitted once.
3. In an effort to be more equitable in the distribution of funds, priority will be given to proposals from staff or groups who have not been previously awarded an Interschool Council Mini Grant. In future application periods, different suggested themes will be offered.
4. All applications must include a detailed budget not to exceed $1000. General categories with only a dollar amount will not be considered.
   For example, "Books: $250" or "Supplies: $100" does not provide the required level of detail. Instead include a list of specific books or supplies to be purchased.
5. Budget items that are NOT funded:
   • Office equipment
   • General school supplies
   • Document copying
   • Mailing costs
   • Consumable items (e.g., food, beverages and subscriptions)
   • Transportation, lodging or conference fees
   • iPads or laptops
   • High School Senior Projects
   • Items that pose safety hazards
6. Staff is limited to submitting two grant applications total, either individually or with others, per award year. For example, if teachers submit one grant application in the spring, then they may submit, at most, one separate application in the fall.
7. Applicants must consult with their building principal(s) or supervisor(s) before submitting an application.
8. Staff may submit a grant application with LMSD colleagues. Applicants are encouraged to work together across disciplines and schools to submit grant applications.
9. The Interschool Council awards grants that impact both small and large groups of students. The number of students impacted is only one factor considered when applications are reviewed.
10. Spring grant applications must be submitted using this Application Form by midnight on Tuesday, April 23, 2024. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

AWARDS:

11. Proposals may be fully funded, partially funded or not funded. All awards will be rounded up to the nearest dollar.
12. All applications are first vetted by the LMSD Administration.
13. The Review Committee includes the Interschool Council (ISC) Mini Grant Co-Chairs, ISC Co-Presidents, a Home and School Association (HSA) president, a Committee for Special Education (CSE) representative, a representative of the Education Foundation of Lower Merion (EFLM), an LMSD principal, select ISC members and LMSD administrators.
14. Additional information may be required during the evaluation process. If that is the case, an email will be sent to the application's primary contact.
15. Grant money that is awarded in May for the upcoming grant year will be available for reimbursement after the LMSD Board of Directors has approved the awards and the awardees receive their award letters.
16. Each mini grant award comes with a commitment to submit a Feedback Form no later than one month after the completion of the funded project and at the latest by May 30, 2025. The Feedback Form includes short answer questions to assess the project's success and requires at least two photos of the project "in action."
17. The Interschool Council may use information concerning any mini grants in electronic newsletters or other communications to the public as examples of how it fulfills its mission.
18. The Interschool Council reserves the right to reject future mini grant applications from recipients who fail to submit a completed Feedback Form or photos.

REIMBURSEMENT:

19. Purchases for reimbursement can be made either directly by the staff or can be purchased through LMSD. In rare circumstances, a third-party vendor may be considered for direct reimbursement. The Mini Grant Chair(s) must approve a third-party vendor reimbursement request in advance.
20. Reimbursements are to be submitted via this Reimbursement Form. Reimbursement will be paid from receipts ONLY. Quotes are not an acceptable form of receipt.
21. If funds are not spent all at one time, a maximum of two reimbursement requests can be made during the course of the school year.
22. Items specified in an application's budget are the only items approved for reimbursement by the ISC Mini Grant Program. If a change or substitution is required (i.e., a certain product is no longer available) prior approval from the Mini Grant Chair(s) is required for reimbursement.
23. Items purchased for reimbursement through an ISC Mini Grant are the property of LMSD.
24. Should the total dollar amount of the items bought exceed the approved amount of the mini grant awarded, the difference may or may not be reimbursed depending on available funds.
25. Should circumstances change, it is the responsibility of the applicants to promptly contact the Mini Grant Chair(s) before making changes.
26. Requests for mini grant reimbursements must be submitted to the Interschool Council Mini Grant Program by June 1, 2025. After June 30th, any unspent funds return to the ISC Mini Grant Program.

Revised 1/2024

All LMSD Home and School Associations generously contributed to the Interschool Council Mini Grant Program. This year’s program resulted in the funding of 31 projects, of which 11 were fully and 20 were partially funded, for a total amount of $12,934. A special thank you to the members of the Mini Grant Review Committee for their continued support and thoughtful input in awarding the following projects.

In the Elementary Schools, the following ISC Mini Grants have been awarded:

BELMONT HILLS ELEMENTARY: Vinetta Baselice’s Bulldog Friendship Club: PAWS - practicing awesome ways to strategize provides the students with different (outstanding) abilities games to encourage sensory integration and inclusion amongst peers. Total funding: $250

BELMONT HILLS ELEMENTARY: Lauren Hudson’s STEM-tastic Building Materials for Elementary Engineers encourages elementary students to work together, plan, create and innovate during weekly STEM classes and beyond. Total funding: $200

BELMONT HILLS ELEMENTARY: Kelsey DiMatteo’s Kindergarten Sensory Station engages students with a variety of academic and sensory activities using a Color-Changing Light Table. Total funding: $536

CYNWYD ELEMENTARY: Rebecca Burns’ Ukuleles for elementary general music incorporates all the elements of music including melody, rhythm, harmony, tone color, form and expression for third and fourth graders. Total funding: $600

GLADWYNE ELEMENTARY: Riva Rothenberg’s Smart Space resembles a translucent wall with three closed sides to help third-grade students feel private without keeping them out of sight of the teacher. Total funding: $264

GLADWYNE ELEMENTARY: Lisa Unger’s Empower Students to Focus and Self-Regulate Via Movement and Sensory Stimulation provides third graders with sensory tools in the classroom. Total funding: $138

GLADWYNE ELEMENTARY: Jenn Welby Gilbert’s Fine Motor Fixes in the Regular Education Classroom introduces items for second graders to improve their fine motor skills which appear impacted by COVID. Total funding: $250

MERION ELEMENTARY: Alexis Vastardis’ Sensory & Self-Regulation provides proprioceptive, tactile, auditory and social-emotional sensory and self-regulation items for the increasing number of Autistic Support students. Total funding: $150

MERION ELEMENTARY: Alexis Vastardis’ Social-Emotional and Executive Functioning Skills Extension supplies books and games to aid Autistic Support students to generalize learned skills across environments. Total funding: $150

PENN VALLEY ELEMENTARY: Brittany Alburger’s Sensory Tiles help students in a Learning Support classroom to calm down when feeling dysregulated. Total funding: $106

PENN WYNNE ELEMENTARY: Lauren Seman’s Bikes for all adds an adapted tricycle to the Life Skills classroom for students to develop gross motor skills. Total funding: $466

PENN WYNNE ELEMENTARY: Sue McNally’s Lifting Spirits through ART: Collaborative Paintings for permanent display within PW Elementary provides materials for the fourth graders to make large-scale paintings that focus on positive images, words, and colors. Total funding: $400

PENN WYNNE ELEMENTARY: Karen Cummings’ Friendship Library Book Bin addresses the need for mentor text that supports the topics of being a friend, making friends and the value of being yourself. Total funding: $160

 

MIDDLE SCHOOLS

In our Middle Schools, ISC Mini Grants will benefit students through the following awards:

BALA CYNWYD MIDDLE: Beth Pavletich’s Mozaic DEI merges the concepts of math with the art of representing each child uniquely along the 6th grade hallway. Total funding: $275

BLACK ROCK MIDDLE SCHOOL: Lauren Lapinski’s Tech Ed - outdoor workspace design & construction provides students with the opportunity to design and build a functional, outdoor workspace. Total funding: $828

BLACK ROCK MIDDLE SCHOOL: Jackie Cassidy’s The Art and Science of Glass starts a glass-fusing program at the middle school level, where students will learn about glass fusing, slumping and casting. Total funding: $600

BLACK ROCK MIDDLE SCHOOL: Dr. Jessica Segal’s Building Best Buddies builds the bank of Best Buddies materials that can be used to help club students connect with each other and engage in a more meaningful way. Total funding: $500

BLACK ROCK MIDDLE SCHOOL: Scott Kleiman’s Escape the Crate allows 8th-grade Leadership students to put many of the learned skills, such as teamwork, communication, problem-solving, persistence, and flexible thinking, into practice. Total funding: $460

BLACK ROCK MIDDLE SCHOOL: Rachel Nichols’ Black Rock DEIB Student & Staff Antiracist Book Club systematically builds a more positive, inclusive community via iterative reading groups throughout the school, starting with student/staff grade-level book clubs. Total funding: $400

BLACK ROCK MIDDLE SCHOOL: Mary Beth Kadyan’s Visual Fractions Measuring Practice incorporates the use of fractional measuring sets to help students understand kitchen measurements and equivalents. Total funding: $384

BLACK ROCK MIDDLE SCHOOL: Kathleen McNulty’s Improving AED Training for Responding to a Cardiac Arrest collaborates with TSA students to engineer Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) training pads at a lower cost. Total funding: $364

BLACK ROCK MIDDLE SCHOOL: Jennifer Cornely’s Sensory Room for students allows students in the Life Skills Support classroom to receive sensory input in a greater variety of ways during the school day. Total funding: $200

WELSH VALLEY MIDDLE: Daniel Bluth’s Quiz Wizard Certamen Machine engages Latin students in teamwork and competitive Latin trivia games among all three middle schools and other invited schools. Total funding: $780

WELSH VALLEY MIDDLE: Lindsey Tifft’s Connected Cardboard City supplies microbits and cardboard for students to create a cardboard city with a smart traffic light system. Total funding:$648

WELSH VALLEY MIDDLE: Sarah Brown’s Sensory and Self-Regulation Space introduces a Squeezer , which provides soothing deep pressure, for students with sensory needs to receive proprioceptive and vestibular inputs to help self-regulate in between classes. Total funding: $590

WELSH VALLEY MIDDLE: Janet Chung’s Podcast Sound Studio supplies microphone isolation shields for Challenge students to make better production-quality podcasts; in particular, entries for the NPR Podcast Challenge. Total funding: $400

WELSH VALLEY MIDDLE: Katie Ziemba’s Strong Female Protagonists diversifies our classroom libraries to include more novels featuring strong female protagonists and novels written by female authors. Total funding: $400

 

HIGH SCHOOLS

In our high schools, ISC Mini Grants will support these innovative projects:

HARRITON HIGH: Laura Hutelmyer’s Padcaster Studio provides access to video recording in a professional format to students. Total funding: $900

HARRITON HIGH: Christine Kiley’s DNA Discovery supplies a more accurate visualization and hands-on experience for students while discovering the structure of DNA. Total funding: $ 596

LOWER MERION HIGH: Meredith Dyson’s Think Globally; Read Locally develops a shared classroom library for teachers of the Film and Literature course so that students can access high-interest books (with film connections) written by local authors. Total funding: $618

LOWER MERION HIGH: Mikell Nigro’s Apartment Life Skills provides the apartment program students with small appliances to work on functional skills in preparation for employment and independent living. Total funding: $321