Freeport Public Schools

Office of Grants & Funded Programs

Catalina Castillo, Ed.D

Director of Grants, Funded Programs and Student Achievement

235 North Ocean Avenue

Freeport, New York

[email protected]

 

The Freeport Public Schools continuously seek funding opportunities to enhance the education of students by implementing robust academic and enrichment programs for students, offering professional trainings for teachers and administrators, and providing parents with the resources they need to engage in the learning process of their children. Currently the Freeport Schools are recipient of over $36,087,741 in grant funds that are used to design and supplement a myriad of programs, services, and purchase instructional materials.

 

Grants help the district supplement academic intervention programs (AIS) through Title I funds that are used to improve student performance in reading, writing, and math, and help students be successful in local and state exams. Academic enrichment programs funded through Title IV funds promote learning through experiences that engage them in fun and creative ways, i.e. STEM programs, field trips, music programs, etc. Title I and Title IV grants are federal funds through the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) that are made available to districts based on needs. These funds aim to level the playing field for school districts that serve students that are educationally at-risk due to economic circumstances, language differences, specialized learning needs, and/or students who just need support to improve performance and meet NYS learning standards. Title III grant funds are specific for programs and services that promote the acquisition of English (language) for English Language Learners (ELLs).

 

 Title II funds help pay for professional trainings intended to increase the number of teachers, principals, and other school leaders who are effective in improving student academic achievement in schools.  Other grants also supplement professional learning through partnerships with local colleges.  

 

The Family and Community Engagement Project/My Brother’s Keeper (FCEP/MBK) grant funds professional learning opportunities offered by Molloy University that focus on reflective practices, communication skills, and strategies to effectively work with families and members of a diverse school community. Adelphi University, Cradle of Aviation Museum, and Long Island University are other key FCEP/MBK partners that help Freeport pay for parent engagement initiatives, i.e. Parent Universities in the individual schools as well as districtwide parent events.

Professional development is also the focus of our Teacher Center grant which helps keep Freeport teachers abreast of educational trends and offers interest-based workshops that help teachers meet their required annual professional development hours. Another grant that supports teacher development is the Mentor Teacher Intern Program (MTIP). This grant funds partnerships between seasoned teacher mentors and first year/novice teachers. This program helps new teachers meet NYS teacher certification requirements and be supported by an experienced and caring teacher mentor.  Expert coaches who provide in-classroom coaching are also available to new teachers through Long Island University.  NYSUT also offers training for the mentors and workshops that are relevant to new, first year teachers.

Recently, Freeport was awarded the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC) grant.  This grant offers students both academic and enrichment activities through meaningful partnerships with the Cradle of Aviation Museum, Adelphi University, Hofstra University Museum of Art, Long Island Children’s Museum, Leadership Training Institute, South Shore Child Guidance Center, LI STEAM, Freeport Recreation Center, Drama Kids, Nassau BOCES Outdoor Education, and the International Association for Human Values/SKY Schools.  These programs offer a menu of exciting after-school activities, tutoring, enrichment fun, and much more.  Students are meaningfully engaged during the school year, Saturdays, and during the summer months.  Freeport wisely utilizes grant funds to create experiences for students that maintain the continuity of learning all year long.

Grants also make it possible for Freeport to implement early-college high school programs that put students on track to college and lucrative careers beginning as early as ninth grade. Through the NYS Pathways to Technology Early College High School (P-Tech) Programs in partnership with Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology and the Smart Scholars Early College High School Programs in partnership with SUNY Farmingdale State College, students can complete high school graduation requirements while concurrently earning college credits through a seamless sequence of study extending through two years of postsecondary career and technical education which culminates in an A.A.S. degree.  Students can choose a pathway leading to an A.A.S. degree in one of the following:  Aeronautical Engineering Technology, Electronics Engineering Technology-Avionics, Animation and Digital Graphics, Computer Science, and Liberal Arts.

Other impactful grants in Freeport include the Smart Start Program grant that provides funding for professional development to a consortium of three school districts (Freeport, Uniondale and Westbury Schools) to provide training to teachers focusing on strategies to develop computational thinking skills in students. Through a partnership with the New York Institute of Technology, expert coaches conduct push-in support, modeling, and coach teachers.  

The Universal Pre-Kindergarten Program grant in partnership with St. Joseph’s College that introduces learning as early as four-years old.  Extensive research has found that early schooling promotes student achievement beyond the school-age years.  

The McKinney Vento Homeless Children & Youth and the American Rescue Programs HCY (Part I and Part II) grants help fund supports for temporarily displaced students and their families as they transition to permanent housing. The program helps to funds academic and mental health supports for students, referral services and counseling, emergency supplies, and much more.  

During the pandemic, Freeport received Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Funds. The CARES Act created an Education Stabilization Fund (ESF) to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID 19. Freeport used these funds to purchase COVID prevention and safety products, technologies that were required for virtual learning, and to implement after school programs to address the learning loss caused by the pandemic.

The Freeport Public Schools is proud of its grant seeking capabilities and successes.  Our grant-funded programs are instrumental in broadly promoting Freeport’s “Excellence in Education” initiatives.