I truly thank SERF and your board for their support of education in Sudbury. I'm blessed to work and live in a community that provides a mechanism to enrich and support the teaching and learning happening in classrooms. Thank you.

    Scott Carpenter, Principal, LSRHS

SERF grants promote innovation and enrichment in classrooms in grades K-12. We fund leading-edge projects in all areas of the curriculum including math, science and engineering, literacy and English language arts, social studies and history, global languages, performing and visual arts, emerging technologies, social development and wellness, professional development for teachers, and more.

SERF grants fund projects and materials that are not, and would not be expected to be, funded in the regular school budget.  SERF grants create opportunities for students to acquire the skills, knowledge and confidence needed to become well-rounded citizens and to develop to the full extent of their potential.

SERF’s Board of Directors represents a community united in support of excellence in education. To ensure that each grant complements the curriculum, we require that every grant application be reviewed and approved by the relevant school principal and the district superintendent.

Read more about the criteria and guidelines SERF uses when considering grant applications here.

Review some testimonials from grant recipients.

Mini Grants
Mini grants are available for short-term projects, staff development activities, or curriculum enhancement totaling $1500 or less. There are two mini grant cycles for the 2011-2012 school year. Application deadlines are: October 3, 2011 and February 6, 2012 by 4 p.m.

Enrichment Grants
Enrichment grants are intended for larger scale projects exceeding $1500 that require significant amounts of staff time to develop and complete. Projects should focus on curriculum improvement, specialty department or system-wide application.  There will only be one enrichment grant cycle for the 2011-2012 school year.  The application deadline is: October 19, 2011 by 4 p.m.

Any grant request received by SERF by the deadline will be reviewed at the next Board meeting. Requests received in any month after the deadline will be reviewed at the second Board meeting following the submission.

Grant Application Approval Process

SERF grant applications are evaluated by a Grant Panel made of a subset of SERF’s Board of Directors. The Grant Panel evaluates applications on their educational merit, consistent with SERF’s grant criteria, mission and funding resources. The Grant Panel makes funding recommendations to the full Board of Directors, whose members then vote on whether to approve the grant. SERF may choose to fully fund, partially fund, or not fund, a grant at its sole discretion. Applicants are then notified of the Board’s decision.

Grant applications will be evaluated for approval based on the following criteria:

  • Academic enrichment for students
  • Creativity and innovation
  • Demonstrated collaboration among teachers, departments and schools
  • Probability of project continuity by school system or other means
  • Number of students and/or teachers benefiting
  • Consistency with school system's curriculum goals
  • Clearly defined goals, activities and outcomes
  • Fiscal responsibility
  • Support of colleagues within grade-level or subject discipline
  • Evaluation mechanism that can accurately assess project results
  • Timely completion of final reports for previous grants

Grant Administrator
Faith Chen (978) 443-3528