The purpose of the program is to enrich and enhance the learning experience of all students in the Albany Public School District. By supporting teachers who emphasize new approaches to teaching and develop innovative programs to stimulate thought and expand the existing curriculum, the Albany Public Schools Foundation seeks to impact student learning in the most positive and direct way possible.

These guidelines will assist you in applying for an Albany Public Schools Foundation mini-grant. To determine the merits of the grant and ultimately the award decision, the Allocations committee will use the information you provide to make its recommendations to the Board. The Board will consider the following criteria to make its final award decisions.

Grant Criteria: Applications will be selected based on (In order of priority)
• Complete application with signature submitted by deadline.
• Project is in alignment with school district and/or school improvement goal(s).
• Project benefits large number of students and increases student engagement and achievement
• Project is on going or provisions are included for long-term funding.
• Project is innovative and enhances or enriches classroom-learning instruction.

1. Mini-grants are available to all teachers, staff and schools in the Greater Albany Public School District. Mini-Grants are typically up to $1000.

2. Since funds are limited, we will attempt to fund as many programs as possible that meet our priorities and criteria rather than focusing on only one or a very few programs. Funds will be available until all budgeted money has been allotted.

3. Each proposal is reviewed on its own merits, leaving maximum flexibility for committee decision.

4. We encourage partial funding of grant requests where our grant is part of a larger fund-raising effort.

5. Projects should be innovative; this program provides resources to educators to implement creative ideas at their school or their area of responsibility. The awards provide an avenue to explore, develop and refine ideas for improving the education of our students.

6. Grants may be used to compensate experts (i.e. authors or artists) who come to work with students, but not to pay teachers or staff.

7. Funds may be used to purchase, but equipment should be just one component of a well-planned project, or integrated with other curriculum materials or activities.  Priority is given to equipment/supplies that can be used repeatedly.

8. Proposals that purchase equipment are accepted, however, appropriate district staff must approve equipment requests. Equipment purchased through a mini-grant becomes the property of the Albany Public School District.  

9. A Grant Evaluation and photographs, where practical, are required of successful applicants at the completion of all projects. The Grant Evaluation form is available at www.albanypsf.org.  Albany Public Schools Foundation reserves the right to request a full report.

10. All proposals will be reviewed; however, requests for field trips have historically not been funded.

11. The Albany Public Schools Foundation reserves the right to use the names of mini-grant recipients and descriptions of their projects in promotional and publicity materials.