The Friends of the Marblehead Public Schools is thrilled to announce the opening of the 2024-25 grant season and welcome several new members to its board. This year’s grant season opened on Dec. 16 and welcomes applications through February 29.
Friends encourages any school personnel, parents, community members and professionals, businesses, and community or school organizations that have innovative and creative proposals that directly impact the curriculum in our community’s schools to consider applying for a grant. There is detailed information at the Friends of Marblehead Public School website outlining how to apply and explaining what makes for a successful grant. The grant-writing process is straightforward and streamlined, and members of the board as well as veteran grant-writers in the community are available to answer any questions about the process.
For the previous grant season, Friends of Marblehead Public Schools funded 14 educational enrichment initiatives that are being implemented in the current 2023-24 school year. These grants not only target a breadth of academic disciplines, interests, and student ages, but also address universal issues that reach far beyond the classroom, including sustainability, conservation, and inclusion. Several of this year’s grants enhance teaching strategies to maximize student engagement and accessibility of content. In other grants, today’s ever-evolving technology will be integrated to support endeavors like robotic engineering and coding, and film production. The Friends of the Marblehead Public Schools is an independent, community-based organization that raises money to enhance the quality of education in all K-12 Marblehead public schools, including Marblehead Charter Community Public School. An all-volunteer board, Friends supports the schools by funding innovative, self-sustaining grants that live on and continue to impact each new rising class of students.
For more than thirty years, the organization has funded initiatives that help educate, empower, and enrich all children in Marblehead Public Schools. Some of Friends’ most notable grants over the years include the MVMS Rebel Shakespeare Program, the Glover and Brown School Anthems, and the collaboration with Marblehead High School All Sports Boosters to fund the updated MHS Fitness Center. Each of these endeavors, first started or aided by grants funded by Friends of the Marblehead Public Schools, is now an integral part of the Marblehead School experience as our children progress through our community’s schools.
This year, Friends welcomes three new members to its board — Bit Coppola, Tracy Darrin, and Davin Wedel. Each of these new members brings skills integral to running a successful nonprofit fundraising organization, but more importantly, they bring a commitment to our town and its public schools, and an enthusiasm for helping enrich the educational experience for our children. To learn about the grant process and how to submit a grant or support Friends of the Marblehead Public Schools, please visit friendsofmarblehead.org, follow the organization on Instagram and Facebook @friendsmps, or reach out via email to fmps@friendsofmarblehead.org.