A for Arizona Announces Round One of 2020 Expansion and Innovation Fund Grant Recipients

Phoenix, AZ—A for Arizona announced the 18 public K-12 school systems that will receive Expansion and Innovation Fund grants to innovate and reimagine how best to serve their students in the 2020-2021 school year. Round One grants were funded by an initial $1 million contribution from Governor Ducey’s Emergency Education Relief (GEERs) fund through federal CARES Act monies to improve access to high-quality teaching and learning this school year.

The grants recognize innovations and promising practices that support student populations that have been significantly disrupted during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

“A for Arizona’s Expansion and Innovation Fund supports school leaders and educators who find creative, effective ways to serve vulnerable students and work toward closing the achievement gap,” said Governor Doug Ducey. “These dollars are being deployed to grant recipients promptly to ensure kids and schools benefit this upcoming semester. My thanks to the superintendents, principals, teachers and educators who work every day to put all Arizona kids on the path to success.”

The grant applications were reviewed and assessed by a committee of local and national education, philanthropic and industry leaders. In Round One, the committee is awarding $850,000 in grant awards with the potential to reach more than 20,000 students throughout five Arizona counties.

“The quality and caliber of applications we reviewed in Round One shows that our local leaders are developing creative solutions to address the current challenges facing our K-12 education system,” said Emily Anne Gullickson, Founder and CEO of A for Arizona. “Our Fund aims to provide these leaders access to immediate funding to accelerate those plans and prove what’s possible for more students. This is Arizona’s opportunity to leverage success points and lessons learned from this spring and better deliver students a quality learning experience this school year.”

Round One Grant Recipients include:

Category 1: Exceptional Students of the Future

• Great Hearts Academies (select primary campuses) – Multi, Maricopa County