Edina Education Fund District-Wide Grants for 2009-2010

Technology at the Elementary Schools: grants of $7,000 per elementary school were allocated for new technologies including SMART Boards, document cameras, amplification systems, and software.

Project Lead the Way: support of $45,000 for Principles of Engineering course in this pre-engineering curriculum for middle and high school students. Funds also paid for a mobile 3D Printer, software, classroom equipment, and curriculum training.

High School Writing Center: support the creation of a writing center at Edina High School to enrich the writing curriculum across all content areas. The writing center will create a dedicated space for all students to gain help with their writing. Initial funds of $15,000 are for writing center coordinator and start up materials. The writing center should be available for use in the fall of 2009.

Counselor for Edina High School: funds of $20,000 were allocated to partner with the district and support a portion of a counseling staff position at Edina High School. This support continues a 2 year commitment made to help with the vision of the district to maximize student achievement, help students and parents with the transitions between middle school and high school and lower the counselor to student ratio.

Writing Cohort: training of 20 teachers in the Edina school district in partnership with the University of Minnesota Writing Project. These teachers will work to reevaluate and transform the district’s writing curriculum; provide best practice modeling of writing instruction in their classrooms and for teachers throughout the district; and increase student performance on the 9th grade GRAD Writing Test.

Personal Financial Literacy: funding has been donated by several Edina alumni in the amount of $180,000 for the specific purpose of support to the Economics department in the district with the main goal of enhancing the curriculum in the area of personal behavioral finance.