Deal announces Innovation Fund Tiny Grant award winners

Gov. Nathan Deal today announced 20 award winners for the Innovation Fund Tiny Grant program, a competitive grant opportunity that provides funding to traditional public schools, charter schools and school districts to implement small-scale programs that directly engage students. 

“The Innovation Fund Tiny Grant unites education leaders and students to provide Georgia’s students with the ability to engage in today’s most innovative academic areas,” said Deal. “As we look to ensure that our children reach new heights in educational achievement, we must promote opportunities for more effective academic growth and success in the classroom. Congratulations to the award winners and we look forward to seeing the impact each Tiny Grant will have on the futures of Georgia students.”

Programs funded by Tiny Grants must align with one of the three following priority areas: applied learning with a focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) education, development and replication of blended learning school models and birth-to-age-eight language and literacy development. 

Grantees will evaluate the impact of the programs on student engagement and achievement and submit their findings to the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement at the end of the grant period.

The grant award winners and their respective programs are listed below: 

Applied Learning with a Focus on STEAM Education

Drew Charter School
Atlanta Public Schools
The Media Arts and Science Club

County Line Elementary School
Barrow County Schools
VR Critters

Westside High School
Bibb County School District
CREATE: Enrichment MakerSpace 

Sallie Zetterower Elementary
Bulloch County Schools
Sprouting STEM at Sallie Z!

Floyd County Schools
Raised Bed to Table: Kitchen Gardens

Dr. M.H. Mason Elementary School
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Terra Club Herbs

McDuffie County Schools
Project S.T.R.I.D.E.

Elm Street Elementary School
Rome City Schools
E3 (Engineering Entrepreneurial Experience)

Elm Street Elementary School
Rome City Schools
Tiny House, Big Dreams

North Heights Elementary School
Rome City Schools
Growing Up Green: Gadgets in the Garden

Warren County Schools
Community Gardens and Brown Bag Program

White County Middle School
White County School System
WCMS Robotics

Birth through Age Eight Language and Literacy Development

Barrow County Schools
Barrow Book Partnership

Carrollton Elementary School
Carrollton City Schools
Kindergarten Kick-Off

North Hart Elementary School
Hart County Charter System
Growing Great Minds at North Hart Elementary

Heard County Elementary School
Heard County School System
Heard County Baby Braves

T.G. Scott Elementary School
Monroe County Schools
Monroe County Pre-Kindergarten Phonological Awareness Project

Montgomery County Schools
Eagle Express

Blended Learning

Jasper County Primary School
Jasper County Charter System
Blended Learning: Enhanced Literacy Development for Primary Students

Jones County High School
Jones County Schools
Blended Learning and Differentiated Instruction for Algebra 2

Descriptions of the winning proposals are attached. 

About the Innovation Fund
The Innovation Fund invests in public education entities that aggressively develop and scale programs that enable Georgia educators to improve student performance and tackle our state’s most significant education challenges. In 2011, The Innovation Fund began as a $19.4 million competitive grant competition created under Georgia’s Race to the Top (RT3) Plan. To continue the Innovation Fund’s work beyond RT3, Deal appropriated state funding for Fiscal Years 2015, 2016 and 2017. Since its inception, the Innovation Fund has invested more than $33 million of state and federal funding through 115 grants to 92 school districts, traditional public schools, charter schools, postsecondary institutions and nonprofit organizations to pilot innovative education programs, ranging in focus from teacher and leader induction and development to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) applied learning, blended learning and birth-to-age-eight language and literacy development. For more information on the Innovation Fund, visit the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement.