Important Dates and Resources: 

• COMING SOON: The Request for Applications (RFA) was released on Friday, Nov. 3, 2023, at 12 p.m. Please visit the District Grants Clearinghouse to access the full RFA.
• The pre-application meeting was held on Nov. 9, 2023. Find the recording and presentation here.
• Pre-application questions are due by 3 p.m. EST on Nov. 29, 2023. Send all questions to [email protected] with the subject line, RFA Question: HSG. Answers to submitted questions will be made available by Dec. 6, 2023 as an attachment to this webpage. 
• The deadline for application submission is 3 p.m. on Dec. 19, 2023.

Grant Background: The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), Division of Health and Wellness (HW) is soliciting applications for the Healthy Schools Grant (HSG) Program. The purpose of the HSG Program is to increase the capacity of public and public charter schools in the District of Columbia to support the implementation of health education, physical education (PE), physical activity, nutrition education, environmental education, garden-based education and farm to school programs. As such, the HSG Program supports high-quality healthy schools program implementation with a focus on coordinating policy, process and practice to improve health and learning, aligned with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model.

The HSG Program will:

1. Position community-based organizations (CBOs) to provide capacity-building services and supports to DC public and public charter schools in order to adopt and strategically implement healthy schools programs;
2. Increase coordination of policies, processes and practices to effectively plan, implement and sustain healthy schools programs; and
3. Support OSSE in gathering best practices and lessons learned for the development and dissemination of resources for all DC public and public charter schools.

Eligibility and Selection Criteria: OSSE will accept applications from CBOs. All applicants must demonstrate expertise and success working with District of Columbia public and public charter schools in one or more of these following areas: health education, PE, physical activity, nutrition education, environmental education, garden-based education and farm to school programs. CBOs will partner with a minimum of five DC public and public charter schools. Applicants must include in their application a minimum of five letters of commitment from the schools that the applicant plans to use as partners.

Applications will be scored on the following criteria: program abstract; logic model; school recruitment and needs assessment; diversity, equity and inclusion; implementation plan; evaluation plan; collaboration with partners and stakeholders; summary of qualifications; and budget.

Length of Award: This grant period is anticipated from Feb. 1, 2024, to Sept. 30, 2024. The project period covers two fiscal years (phases), contingent upon funding availability and the grantee’s satisfactory implementation of the proposed program. Phase One spans from Feb. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2024. Phase Two spans Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025. Applicants must re-apply for second-year funding. Continuation of awards in year two is contingent upon: 1) availability of funds; 2) recipient’s implementation and/or operation of the program as submitted in the application; 3) recipient’s demonstration that substantial progress has been made toward meeting the objectives set forth in the approved application, based on ongoing monitoring and review of the recipient’s reports; 4) compliance with District and federal laws, regulations and guidance; and 5) appropriate expenditure of funds throughout the grant award period.

Available Funding for Award:

• The total amount of available funds is $500,000.
• Awarded grantees are expected to receive between $50,000 to $125,000 for the grant period.
• OSSE anticipates awarding funds to three to eight applicants, per funding availability.

Please see the RFA for more details.

For more information regarding this competition, please contact:

Rachel Sadlon
Director of Healthy Schools and Wellness Programs
Division of Health and Wellness
Email: [email protected]