Supporting Student Needs

Moderation state
funded
Grant Applicant
Justine Minczeski
School Site
Sierra Expeditionary Learning School
Grant Category
Misc.
Grant Date
2025-03-31T12:00:00
Description

This grant proposal seeks funding to provide targeted support for students in the incoming kindergarten class, addressing a variety of essential needs for new learners. The focus will be on fostering students' academic, social-emotional, and behavioral growth by offering individualized and group-based supports in key areas: attention, hand strengthening, math manipulatives (beyond curriculum materials), letter recognition activities, social-emotional development games, sensory integration, and positive behavior reinforcement.

Benefits of Program

The benefits of the program will include:

  • Enhanced Attention and Focus: Introduce techniques and activities that help students build attention skills, enabling them to fully participate in classroom learning and engage with their peers.
  • Support Hand Strengthening: Provide hand strengthening activities to develop fine motor skills necessary for tasks like writing and cutting, laying the groundwork for future academic tasks.
  • Enrich Math Learning with Manipulatives: Use a variety of math manipulatives (beyond standard curriculum tools) to engage students in hands-on learning, helping them better understand mathematical concepts and build a strong numerical foundation.
  • Promote Letter Recognition: Provide interactive letter recognition activities for small groups designed to improve early literacy skills, preparing students for reading and writing.
  • Foster Social-Emotional Development: Integrate fun and interactive social-emotional games that help students build emotional awareness, empathy, and positive peer relationships.
  • Support Sensory Integration: Introduce sensory-friendly materials and strategies that help students with sensory integration challenges, ensuring they can participate fully in classroom activities.
  • Encourage Positive Behavior: Create and implement a system that encourages positive behavior, enhances classroom management, and helps students develop self-regulation skills.
Success of Program

By securing this grant, we hope to create a well-rounded, inclusive, and supportive learning environment where every child can thrive. Through targeted interventions in the areas of attention, fine motor development, math, literacy, social-emotional growth, and behavior, we expect to see improved academic performance, better emotional regulation, and enhanced social skills, all of which will contribute to long-term success in school and beyond.

Implementation

This grant will help serve all incoming kindergarten students, with a special emphasis on those who require additional support in the areas mentioned above. Interventions will be provided both individually and in small groups to address each student’s unique needs beginning from the start of the school year. 

Can you share this grant with your grade level or subject team?

The materials and resources funded by this grant will be available for use by the entire grade-level team. These resources can be used in various classroom settings to enhance learning and support the various needs of students.

Sustainability
The materials and resources from this program will not only support the incoming kindergarten students but will also be available for use by future classes in the years to come. This ensures that the investment in these resources will have a long-term positive impact, benefiting successive classes and contributing to ongoing student success.
Amount Funded
$839.00
Individual Budget Items(s)
$228 - slant boards
$293 - learning supports (bouncy bands for chairs, positive behavior boards, social emotional cards, visual support folders)
$206 - academic manipulatives for diverse learners
Shipping
$62.00
Taxes
$50.00
Other funding sources

At this time, other funding sources for this project have not yet been pursued. This grant proposal represents the initial request for funding, and additional funding options may be explored in the future to further enhance the supports available for students.

Notes

Companies: Amazon, Really Good Stuff, Lakeshore