Atlanta, Cobb, Fulton schools win innovation grants

David Paul Morris/Getty Images

David Paul Morris/Getty Images

Four metro Atlanta schools won grants of up to $7,000 each to try innovative programs to teach students.

Atlanta 

Benjamin E. Mays High School in Atlanta Public Schools will use its $6,998 grant to create a computer science summer program. Students enrollecd in the Georgia Virtual Computer Science Principles course, receive tutorial support, and participate in career exploration activities and college visits that expose them to the computer science workforce. In the following school year, students will enroll in advanced placement computer science classes and receive support from the Culturally Relevant Computing Lab at Morehouse College.

Cobb County

Birney Elementary School in Cobb County will use its $6,998 grant to implement the i-Ready program with the goal of closing the achievement gap in third grade English Language Arts and math. The i-Ready programs help students reach third grade benchmarks by individualizing instruction based on their current performance levels.

The Let's Code, Lindley 6th Grade Academy club in Cobb County is designed to engage students in science, technology, engineering, and math and increase college and career readiness. Through a $7,000 grant, students will have the opportunity to engage in STEM learning on two different college campuses. Students will also have direct access to STEM professionals while learning to code and program robots.

Fulton

Fulton Leadership Academy charter school will use training from Project Lead the Way  (PLTW) to introduce a project-based learning, rigorous curriculum in middle grades math and science. PLTW is an evidence-based curriculum that exposes students to real-world learning experiences that help develop college and career readiness skills. Its grant is $7000.

The grant program started in 2011 under an Obama-era program, Georgia’s Race to the Top plan. Gov. Nathan Deal appropriated state funding to continue the program.

Since its inception, the fund has invested more than $33 million of state and federal funding through 142 grants to school districts, charter schools, postsecondary institutions and nonprofit organizations to pilot innovative education programs.

RELATED: 138 Fulton students named National Merit Scholarship semifinalists

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