Grants and Other Financial Assistance Programs

FY2024: Acceleration Academies Grant

Fund Codes: 224/322

Purpose:

The purpose of this targeted grant is to support district and school implementation of the Acceleration Academies. The Acceleration Academies are an evidence-based academic intervention with a history of positive academic results for students.

Districts that receive Acceleration Academies Grant funds must implement the Acceleration Academy model with fidelity, ensuring the program adheres to the following key program components:

Acceleration Academies take place during the February school vacation week, during the April school vacation week, or both
Instruction is provided in-person
Students can only be assigned to one subject area during an Acceleration Academy week
Students receive 4+ hours of in-person core content instruction each day within a given week or a total of 20+ hours of core content instruction in a week
Class sizes are small (10–12 students/core content teacher)
Students are taught by the same core content teacher for the duration of an Acceleration Academy
Elementary and Middle school students attend at least 1 specials/enrichment class each day
Classes are taught by highly effective educators who are hired through a selective application process

To ensure classes are taught by highly effective teachers, grant recipients must commit to the following:

Teachers are hired through a selective application process
Teachers selected and hired to teach in the Acceleration Academies receive a stipend of up to $4,000 for each Acceleration Academy they are selected and hired to teach in
Academy site facilitators conduct classroom walk-throughs/observations throughout the Academy week to ensure instruction meets instructional expectations and to provide feedback, if needed

To ensure the Acceleration Academies are enrolled at or near a district's projections (per the Part III document), grant recipients must commit to the following:

District provides each Acceleration Academy host site and/or sending school with resources to support student recruitment and enrollment management prior to an Academy week, as needed, to ensure high attendance rates

Eligibility:

Districts that fall into at least one of the categories listed below are eligible to apply for this grant.

Category 1 — Chronically underperforming districts within the Strategic Transformation Region that have been identified under DESE's District and School Accountability System are eligible to apply.

Category 2 — Districts in which the majority of students within the district attend schools among the lowest performing 10% of schools (based on 2019 school accountability data) are eligible to apply.

Please note, future Acceleration Academy targeted grant opportunities will utilize 2023 and later accountability data to determine which districts are eligible.

Districts that meet the eligibility criteria are:

Holyoke Public Schools
Lawrence Public Schools
Chelsea Public Schools
New Bedford Public Schools
Southbridge
Springfield Public Schools for SEZP

Funding Type:

FC 224 — State Line Item 7061-9408
FC 322 — Federal CFDA 84.010

Federal grant funds must adhere to:

UGG (2 CFR 200)
EDGAR As Applicable
EDGAR General Fiscal Administration 34 CFR Part 76

Funding:

Approximately $980,000 will be awarded to school districts with the possibility of additional funding in subsequent years. Allocation amounts for eligible districts are based on the size of the district's student population (or, in the case of SEZP, the number of students within SEZP).

Eligible districts may apply for the following amount of funds:

Districts with a student population under 5,000 students can apply for up to $105,000.
Districts with a student population between 5,000 to 10,000 students can apply for up to $155,000.
Districts with a student population over 10,000 students can apply for up to $205,000.

The table below provides the allocation amount for each eligible district.

Eligible District	Allocation	Fund Code
Chelsea	$155,000	224 (state funds)
Holyoke	$155,000	322 (federal funds)
Lawrence	$205,000	224 (state funds)
New Bedford	$205,000	224 (state funds)
Southbridge	$105,000	322 (federal funds)
Springfield for SEZP	$155,000	322 (federal funds)

This RFP is the governing document for these grant funds.

Funding is contingent upon availability. All dollar amounts listed are estimated/approximate and are subject to change. If more funding becomes available it will be distributed under the same guidelines that appear in this RFP document.

Fund Use:

As outlined in the Purpose section, funds must be used to implement the Acceleration Academy model with fidelity and funds must be used for in-person Acceleration Academy programming. The majority of funds from this grant must be used for teacher stipends but funds can also be used for grant and program coordination salaries/stipends, administrative staff stipends, transportation, food services, consumable program materials and supplies (paper, pencils, markers, etc.), professional development/facilitated planning, and family engagement activities.

Important Note:

Funds from this grant cannot be used for Indirect Costs or Equipment Costs (including software and technology) and cannot be used to purchase incentives.
MTRS is allowable for districts receiving federal funds (FC 322).

Project Duration:

FC 224: Upon Approval * – 6/30/2024
FC 322: Upon Approval * – 6/30/2024

* Grant start date cannot be prior to DESE receiving a substantially approvable Application Submission as directed in this RFP's Submission Instructions. Goods and Services cannot be procured prior to Grants receiving and approving an application submission. Funds cannot exceed the project duration end date.

Program Unit:

Center for Strategic Initiatives

Contact:

Thomas Zorich

Phone Number:

(781) 338-3528

Date Due:

Friday, December 1, 2023.

Required Forms:

Part I — Cover Page: Please complete the cover page for the fund code associated with your district's grant.
- FY24 FC224 Cover Page
- FY24 FC322 Cover Page
Part II — Budget: both FC224 and FC322 budgets must be entered directly into EdGrants as part of the application submission process.
Part III — Required Program Information
Part IV — Grant Assurances

Submission Instructions:

Submit all required grant materials through EdGrants.

In EdGrants, grantees are required to create and name the project. Please use the following naming convention for your "Applicant Project Name" in EdGrants:

FY24 [insert fund code] District Name.

All required forms should be uploaded / attached in the Attachments List of the Application Submission. This includes a signed / scanned PDF of Part I / Coversheet with Superintendent's/Executive Director's signature.

For Guidance Documents regarding EdGrants, visit EdGrants: User Guides and Information.

Please note: It is up to the grantee to determine who they want to add as EdGrants Front Office users in order to submit the grant application as well as payment request information. Please review the EdGrants: User Security Controls document to make informed decisions regarding assigning your district level users.

Last Updated: November 6, 2023