FEMA announced Monday that they would give money the Port Aransas Independent School District a grant for over $1 million to repair athletic fields damaged during Hurricane Harvey. The grant comes from FEMA's Public Assistance Program, which is used to reimburse eligible applicants for money they spent during recovery from a disaster. view article

Monday, the Council on Regional Economic Expansion and Educational Development (CREEED) awarded $150,000 in scholarship funds to 75 teachers in the Socorro Independent School District through its Accelerated Certification of Teachers (ACT El Paso) Scholarship Program. The funding will help educators attain dual-credit certifications, dramatically expanding the number of Socorro ISD high school teachers to teach dual-credit courses. view article

Martin Chevrolet's Janet Martin-Clark (left to right), Abel Soto, Chris Gohselig, Marcos Cantu and Efrain Salazar participate in an open house on Saturday to benefit Cleveland ISD. view article

The South Texas College Regional Center for Public Safety Excellence will convert a classroom through a $700,000 grant to expand a lab with special equipment to educate students on cybersecurity. South Texas College and Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District are under a partnership to receive the grant. District students can take classes in cybersecurity through the partnership at the lab and earn a cybersecurity specialist certificate. view article

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality announced Aug. 5 that Eanes ISD will acquire $1.1 million in federal grant money from the Texas Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Program settlement for the replacement of the district’s diesel school buses. EISD is one of four entities in the Austin area set to receive funds for more environmentally conscious buses. view article

South Texas College will partner with three local school districts in Hidalgo County after receiving a grant totaling over $600,000 to train students for “high-demand jobs.” The Texas Workforce Commission presented four checks to South Texas College and the Weslaco, Mission and Monte Alto school districts this week through the Jobs and Education for Texans grant. This is an initiative by the Texas Workforce Commission toward enhancing training and curriculum for high-demanding training for high school and community college students. The funds will go toward purchasing equipment to train students. view article

They don’t know the details yet, but it’s all good. The Harlingen school district has just learned it’s been awarded a $200,000 grant for its early childhood program. The grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation may come in the form of money, supplies or services. view article

A recent Greater Texas Foundation grant will extend a partnership between Texas A&M and the National College Advising Corps to provide counselors at the two Bryan comprehensive high schools.  The $160,000 grant will extend the partnership for two years, putting a recent Texas A&M graduate on the Bryan High School and Rudder High School campuses. view article

Rebuild Texas Fund awarded a total of over $2.2M in the region to reimburse the Vidor Independent School District for Harvey damages, to make critical roof repairs to school facilities in West Orange Cove ISD and to enhance the operations for Missions on Wheels to name a few. view article

The Victoria Independent School District received a grant from Rebuild Texas. Several campuses in the district still need attention due to damage from Hurricane Harvey. With the $657,000 Rebuild Texas grant, VISD will fix the roofs at two campuses.  view article

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a grant of $2.44 million to RGV Focus. A ceremonial check presentation was made at RGV Focus’ annual retreat on South Padre Island.  view article

Nearly 40 McLennan County college students received $5,000 scholarships Tuesday night from the Waco Foundation’s MAC College Money Program for upperclassmen, but the surprise was not the number of qualifying students: More than a quarter were fresh high school graduates. Thanks in part to increased enrollment in dual credit and early college access programs, 11 students winning scholarships meant to help them in their junior and senior years of college had earned their high school diplomas only two months ago, a notable uptick from past years. view article

A $1 million boost for Vidor ISD to help with recovery efforts after Tropical Storm Harvey.  view article

Lake Travis ISD addressed funding for House Bill 5 during a July 17 board meeting, a law approved during the 83rd Texas Legislative session in June 2013, according to the Texas Education Agency. The bill aids students who are at risk for dropping out by providing supplemental education programs, according to district information. HB 5 requires districts to separately budget funding to provide additional education for students who perform poorly on an end of course assessment. view article

Since 2011, Victron Energy has provided grants to Red Oak ISD campuses through the ExxonMobil Educational Alliance Program. This year, each of the seven ROISD schools received $2,000 for use in math and science enrichment programs. As an ExxonMobil retailer, Victron Energy President and COO Walid Alameddine work with school officials to submit for the funds on behalf of the campuses. view article

According to a statement from the Director of Communications, Shawna Currie Monda, Victoria Independent School District received a grant from the Rebuild Texas Fund to help with completing repairs to campus roofs that were severely damaged during Hurricane Harvey. Currie confirmed that the "Rebuild Texas Fund award $657,000 to VISD for the needed roof repairs." Director of Federal Programs, Tammy Sestak applied for the grant on behalf of VISD. view article

Six Socorro Independent School District students are recipients of the 2019 Burger King McLamore Foundation Scholarship. Jimena Mendez, Celeste Soto, Nathalie Valencia, Adriana Villalobos and Samantha Ortiz were among the 19 scholarship recipients this school year. “We believe it’s important to invest in students’ futures because they are the leaders of tomorrow,” said Joe Labrado, director of operations for Burger King. view article

Pflugerville ISD students interested in becoming firefighters or emergency medical technicians will soon have access to more state-of-the-art technology and training. The Pflugerville Community Development Corp. announced July 11 a $150,000 grant to PfISD in tandem with a matching Workforce Solutions Capital Area grant. The combined approximately $300,000 grant provides additional funding for the district’s Emergency Medical Technician academy. view article

WHITEHOUSE, Texas (KLTV) - Whitehouse native and Kansas City Chief’s quarterback Patrick Mahomes is once again giving back to the athletes of his alma mater.  Mahomes’ brother, Jackson Mahomes, will be visiting Whitehouse Independent School District on behalf of his brother on July 11. He will be donating shoes to Whithouse ISD athletes as part of Mahomes’ 15 and Mahomies Foundation.  Mahomes created the foundation in order to help kids in under-served communities. The foundation will support initiatives that focus on health, wellness, communities in need of resources and other charitable causes. view article

The innovative future of education was celebrated as nearly $45,000 worth of checks were dispersed across Waxahachie ISD.  On May 31, the Waxahachie ISD Education Foundation presented 12 checks to teachers and staff during the district awards presentation.  view article

Dr. Larry Pittman Goddard of Tyler, a certified fundraising executive, was recently named as a life honorary member of the Texas School Public Relations Association. Goddard was named for his recognition as "Key Communicator" of Texas public school education. view article

A number of Upper Valley school districts will continue to see federal funds for Title I programs for the upcoming school year. The U.S. Department of Education will provide over $130 million through Title I formula allocations across 18 schools districts in Hidalgo and Starr counties for the 2019-20 year. Title I is a formula grant program that assists local education agencies and school districts with high populations of low-income students. view article

Berta Palacios Elementary in Pharr-San Juan-Alamo ISD (PSJA ISD) was awarded a $5,000 Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant to help establish a school garden. The annual Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant program is a great source of funding for improvement projects at public schools. The U.S. Grant funding falls into three categories, including “technology upgrades, tools for STEM programs, and facility renovations (“beautifying the school”) and safety improvements. Grants generally range from $5,000 to $25,000. view article

Great Things are Happening at Taft ISD… The Taft Independent School District has received a Jobs and Education for Texans (JET) Grant in the amount of $136, 920.00 from the Texas Workforce Commission. This Grant is for the Implementation of an Industrial Instrumentation Program on the campus of Taft High School, in partnership with Del Mar College. view article

Pursuing a career in the technical field has just gotten a lot easier for some area high school students. That’s because new grant money just awarded to a local school district. Robstown Early College High School just received a JET (jobs and education for Texas) grant worth $188,328 from the Texas Workforce Commission. That money will be used to purchase and install new equipment, which will provide students hands-on training to obtain a certification and one day land a job in the local workforce as instrumentation technicians after they graduate. view article

With summer here, school is probably the last thing on anyone's minds - except for the Apple Springs ISD Booster Club. The club made the decision to take care of every student's school supply needs. "The teachers gave school supplies lists and how many students they have in each class and we just decided we were going to try and just help the parents out," said Lolette Griggs, Apple Springs ISD Booster Club President. view article

The University of Texas at El Paso will partner with the El Paso Independent School District (EPISD) to foster the next generation of highly skilled STEM teachers through a five-year, $1.2 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).  UTEP will receive support from the Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program, an NSF effort that helps address the critical need for K-12 teachers of science, technology, engineering and mathematics by encouraging talented students and professionals to pursue teaching careers in elementary and secondary schools. The effort is being led by Amy Wagler, Ph.D., associate chair in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, who is the grant's principal investigator.  view article

The Eanes Education Foundation, a nonprofit that raises funds for Eanes ISD, has collected more than $2.55 million to fund 51 teacher positions for the 2019-20 school year and support professional development throughout the district. The check was presented June 5 at the EEF End of Year Party held at Austin Country Club. A press release put out by EEF states key positions on each of the nine district campuses funded by the grant include librarians, counselors, school nurses, AP and pre-AP teachers and electives teachers—positions officials said will help keep class sizes as low as possible. view article

Hallsville ISD Education Foundation is teeing up for its 17th annual "Fore the Kids" golf tournament which benefits its grants to teachers and dual credit scholarship programs. The 18-hole, four person per team scramble is set for June 17 with registration beginning at 7:30 a.m. and a shotgun start for the tournament at 8:30 a.m. at Pinecrest Country Club in Longview. view article

Bright green lily pads dotted a hallway of Torres Elementary School, with wide-eyed frogs following the path to another pad or piece of wood. Jada Johnson took a deep breath before hopping from one pad to the next, paying special attention to the instructions laid out between painted trees and logs. “It gives you energy, and the bananas with letters can help kids learn the alphabet,” Johnson, 9, said. “This is really great for learning.” view article

The Texas Workforce Commission gave Teague schools a grant worth more than $150,000 on Tuesday morning. view article

High school seniors who graduated this year from Comal Independent School District collectively were offered scholarships totaling an amazing $33.97 million. Of those 1,492 graduates who received scholarship money, 575 graduates were from Canyon High, 204 graduates from Canyon Lake High, 76 graduates from Early Memorial College High and 637 graduates from Smithson Valley High. The breakdown of the scholarships among the high schools includes $15.62 million at CHS, $3.45 million at CLHS, $1.9 million at MECHS and $13 million at SVHS. While the $33.97 million includes local, state, private and national scholarships, some are noteworthy, and a few are unconventional.  view article

The Royse City Independent School District last week celebrated a grant that allowed for a rock climbing wall to be built at Fort Elementary School. The Royse City ISD Education Foundation dedicated the grant to the memory of Rachel Forbus, who was a committed volunteer in the district for many years. According to a district press release, Forbus graduated from Royse City High School in 1979, and in addition to athletics, participated in many of the school’s clubs and extracurriculars. view article

For the second year in a row, Seguin ISD’s Matador Special Services Department received a grant from the Texas Education Agency.  Last year the department received $779,050 to develop the Whole Child Learning Center at Ball Early Childhood Center. With the success the program has had, the TEA extended the grant, awarding $1 million to the department, SISD director of special education Halcy Dean said. view article

San Augustine and Jasper Independent School Districts have both received grants for their proposals to connect “opportunity youth” with resources to set them up for success in the future. Opportunity youth are defined as 16 to 24-year-olds who are technically not in school; they’re either home-schooled, dropped out, or they’ve graduated high school but chose not to pursue post-secondary education. view article