Schools that are sharing campuses in Newark will be able to apply for $350,000 in grant money under a program designed to foster collaboration among schools.
The Shared Campus Grant program is a partnership between Newark Public Schools, the Foundation for Newark's Future and the Newark Education Trust, the city's local education fund.
The funding for the program comes from the Foundation for Newark's Future, which was created to manage Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg's $100 million matching donation to Newark.
The grant program was announced Oct. 17 at George Washington Carver School, where three schools are sharing space: the district elementary school with the same name, Bruce Street School for the Deaf and Spark Academy, a charter school in the TEAM network.
This school year, more than 1,800 students attending 18 different schools located in 8 school buildings. The shared campus program was developed to give Newark's public charter schools and new school models opportunities to locate in underutilized district classroom space.
"At its core, the shared campus program represents the collaboration of educators and leaders dedicated to innovating practices and expanding opportunities for Newark kids,” said Mayor Cory A. Booker.
Ross Danis, the executive director of the Newark Education Trust, said each of the eight campuses will be eligible for grants ranging between $10,000 and $50,000 during the next two years. The grants will be focused on building relationships and community across schools, planning shared activities for students and families, and codifying and promoting promising practices between schools, – including joint professional development
The Newark Education Trust and the Foundation for Newark's Future will support each team and ultimately approve grants for those that promote student achievement for all of the students at the campus.
“The Newark Education Trust is pleased to collaborate with the Newark Public Schools and the Foundation for Newark’s Future to ensure that all children and their families have a positive educational experience,” said Ross Danis, Executive Director of the Newark Education Trust. “Using research and best practices from across the nation to guide the shared campus initiative will help promote schools that not only learn from one another, but provide high quality educational experiences for all of our children.”
Greg Taylor, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation for Newark’s Future, said the district’s shared campus plan will ensure parents and students have great schools throughout the city.
"We’re committed to helping schools get the most out of the shared space initiative so that all students benefit,” Taylor said. “Our goal is to provide every Newark student access to an excellent education, and this is one step toward that broader goal.”
Newark Public Schools Superintendent Cami Anderson said the grants will ensure students will flourish socially and academically in the shared space.”
“When individual schools work together to share promising practices for boosting academic achievement, every student wins,” Anderson said.
In addition to George Washington Carver, the schools sharing space are:
• Burnet Street Building – Burnet Street Elementary School & Great Oaks (Charter)
• Camden Middle School Building – People’s Prep (Charter), Bard High School Early College (New School) and Newark Bridges (New School)
• Newark Vocational Building – Newark Leadership Academy (New School) and Newark Vocational High School
• 13th Avenue Building – 13th Avenue Elementary & North Star Elementary III (Charter)
• Quitman Street Building – Quitman Street School and Wilson Avenue School
• Louis A Spencer Building - Louis A Spencer Elementary & Newark Early College High School
• West Side NAF Building - West Side NAF Academy, Performance Learning Center and Big Picture Learning Sites
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