The Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation has awarded 22 teaching innovation grants totaling $47,643 to teachers at all four schools in the K-8 Menlo Park City School District, the foundation announced last week.
The grants reinforce the MPAEF’s support of teaching excellence, the top priority of the district’s five-year strategic plan, and a key factor affecting student achievement, said spokesperson Lois Giovacchini.
The grants are named for Jeanie Ritchie, a founder of the foundation and a strong advocate for creative teaching.
This year, the grants range from $377 to $6,000 and will support 69 teachers in pioneering projects at all grade levels, from kindergarten through 8th grade.
“The Jeanie Ritchie grants are truly the venture capital of the teaching world,” said foundation co-president Steve Hoffmann. “These grants provide critical seed money for teachers to try out new and innovative teaching ideas in the classroom. The best of these ideas take hold and become integrated into the mainstream curriculum.”
