SOAR Facilities grants are available through a competitive process to eligible charter LEAs. The purpose of this funding program is to provide high-quality public charter schools with funds to renovate facilities that are occupied by charter schools. Grant-funded projects must 1) increase the total number of seats available at a high-quality charter school, or 2) increase the quality of existing seats at a high-quality charter school. The chart below shows the newly awarded SOAR Act Facilities grantees and a brief description of the projects the grant funds will support.
| SOAR Facilities Grantees | Amount | Project Description |
|---|---|---|
| Lee Montessori Public Charter School | $506,558.26 | remodeling the multi-purpose room and indoor physical education space, and expanding the outdoor space |
| Academy of Hope Adult Public Charter School | $507,683.28 | renovating the Ward 8 campus to upgrade systems and infrastructure |
| Perry Street Prep Public Charter School | $507,683.28 | improving the accessibility of the exterior of the building and renovate bathrooms to meet contemporary ADA best practice |
| KIPP DC | $507,683.28 | expansion to add nearly 100 seats at the Benning Campus |
| Washington Yu Ying Public Charter School | $507,683.28 | renovations to open a second campus to serve 300+ additional students |
| E.L. Haynes Public Charter School | $184,023.87 | upgrading the HVAC system at the Georgia Avenue Campus |
| Two Rivers Public Charter School | $507,683.28 | creating a middle school at the Young Campus in Ward 5 |
| Creative Minds Public Charter School | $507,683.28 | renovating more than 6,900 square feet of additional learning space along with improving lighting and acoustic issues |
| DC Bilingual Public Charter School | $507,683.28 | constructing a 18,700 square feet extension to the existing facility to include 12 classrooms, a lab, and three multi-purpose spaces |
| Friendship Public Charter School | $507,683.28 | creating a dedicated early childhood entryway, and building an age-appropriate play space |
| DC Preparatory Public Charter School | $406,146.63 | performing large-scale HVAC system replacements and exterior and interior building upgrades to the Edgewood Middle Campus |
SOAR Nonprofit Third-Party/Charter Support Organization Grants
The SOAR Third-Party grants are available through a competitive process to eligible nonprofit organizations with a demonstrated history of success working with DC charter schools on projects that are designed to: 1) have a direct and rapid (within two years) impact on the academic achievement and outcomes for public charter school students across multiple school LEAs; or 2) designed to impact student outcomes at multiple charter LEAs indirectly by enhancing the organizational capacity of charter LEAs to operate as fiscally and operationally sound nonprofit organizations and schools. The chart below shows the newly awarded SOAR Third-Party grantees:
| SOAR Third-Party Grantees | Amount |
|---|---|
| Relay Graduate School of Education | $146,176.48 |
| One World Education | $288,589.79 |
| DC Public Charter School Cooperative | $290,369.03 |
| The Literacy Lab | $254,094.68 |
| School Leader Lab | $248,401.99 |
| EmpowerK12 | $290,244.17 |
| New Leaders | $290,369.03 |
| PAVE | $288,917.19 |
Project Summaries from the Grantees
Relay Graduate School of Education’s Partnership for Inclusive Schools serves preschool – grade 8 students via ongoing team-based professional development of teachers and leaders, based on demonstrated needs, to grow equitable learning outcomes for SPED students. Data, research and continuous improvement cycles are the basis of their work.
The One World Education Program will be implemented in 12 charter schools. Professional development, curriculum, student journals, coaching, and evaluation offered for teachers to use to support students in developing research and writing skills.
DC Public Charter School Cooperative Increasing math achievement of students with disabilities by building the capacity of partner LEAs to select and implement evidence-based interventions/strategies and measure and evaluate student progress and the fidelity of implementation of interventions.
The Literacy Lab Partnering with Bridges PCS, DC Prep PCS, Anacostia, and Friendship PCS- Armstrong to place nine full-time early literacy tutors to provide daily, evidence-based literacy intervention to 294 children in pre-K and grades K-3 over two years to increase reading proficiency.
School Leader Lab Training 15 instructional leaders from 11 LEAs to improve results for their schools and students. The two-year cohort focuses on equity and context, instructional leadership, and adaptive leadership through coaching, peer consultancies, deliberate practice, professional development and assessments.
EmpowerK12 Creating tailored plans to improve partner LEAs' data-driven capacity, utilizing frequently updated student data to drive rapid academic gains with the Boldly Data-Driven Schools Project. EmpowerK12 will develop special education and intervention dashboards for LEA use in continuous improvement.
New Leaders Training up to 30 participants through the Instructional Leadership and Cultural Leadership programs, supporting partners to implement data-driven (1) instruction and (2) decision-making cycles, respectively, to improve instructional practice, adult and school culture, and student outcomes.
PAVE (Parents Amplifying Voices in Education) Training and supporting Washington Latin PCS' and SEED DC's leadership, family and community engagement staff around the implementation and development of family and community engagement best practices and strategies, building positive academic outcomes.