Fiscal Year 2024 Whole School Educator Wellness Grant

Important Dates and Resources:

• The Notice of Funding Availability can be found here, under Funding Alerts and Grant Clearing House, and as an attachment to this webpage.

• The Request for Application can be found here, under Funding Alerts and Grant Clearing House, and as an attachment to this webpage.

• The mandatory pre-application webinar will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023, from 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. To register for this webinar, click here.
• Pre-application questions are due by 3 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 8, 2023. Send all questions to [email protected].
• The deadline for application submission is 3 p.m. Oct. 10, 2023.

Grant Background: The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) Division of Health & Wellness (H&W) is soliciting applications for the Whole School Educator Wellness Grant. The purposes of the grant are to address educator recovery efforts from coronavirus (COVID-19) by:

1. Building the capacity of DC public and public charter schools to adopt and strategically implement educator wellness systems that center staff voice to consider the root causes of educator stress and build a culture of wellness through a tiered intervention framework; and
2. Supporting OSSE in updating materials and resources to ensure the use of a sustainable educator wellness technical assistance model. Awarded applicants will be expected to carry out the program requirements and deliverables as follows:
   1. Implement programming in alignment with OSSE’s approach to educator wellness.
   2. Partner with OSSE to implement each Whole School Educator Wellness Cohort learning session:
      1. Session 1: Whole School Educator Wellness and the Path to Get Started
      2. Session 2: Centering Staff Voice to Identify and Understand Needed Supports
      3. Session 3: Charting a Path to Integrate Educator Wellness into the School Culture
      4. Session 4: Using Continuous Quality Improvement to Test What Works
3. Between each learning session, provide technical assistance to a minimum of four schools over the one-year award period to support the school in implementing the learnings from each session.

Awarded applicants will partner with OSSE in the implementation of the Whole School Educator Wellness Cohort. The cohort will bring together school teams to:

1. Collectively learn about a whole school approach to educator wellness; and
2. Receive training and technical assistance from their partner (an awarded applicant) to:
   1. Assess the school’s readiness for a whole school approach to educator wellness; and
   2. Determine a path to successfully adopt the tiered educator wellness approach that supports educator wellness, retention and ultimately student achievement.

Eligibility and Selection Criteria: OSSE will accept applications from non-profit entities in the District of Columbia having a 501(c)(3) status with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). All applicants must submit their respective 501(c)(3) determination letter and any correspondence or other communication received from the IRS within three years before submission of the application that relates to the applicant’s tax status.

All applicants must demonstrate: 1) experience providing services and supports to organizations and leadership teams, i.e., in a school or other organizational context, to assess need and implement systems change; 2) content expertise in comprehensive organizational health practices; and 3) experience in supporting leaders in centering staff voice to implement practices that build trust and belonging among staff and are responsive to their community’s wellness needs. Applications will be scored on the following selection criteria: organization qualifications, technical assistance plan and budget overview and justification.

Length of Award: The award period is from Nov. 3, 2023 – Sept. 30, 2024, and funded applicants must commit to obligate all grant funds awarded under this competition by Sept. 30, 2024. Funding will not extend beyond Sept. 30, 2024, and there is no continuation funding.

Available Funding for Award:

• The total amount of available funds is $500,000.
• Awarded grantees will be provided $25,000 per school and grantees will be required to partner with a minimum of four schools. Grantees may propose to partner with more than four schools.
• OSSE anticipates awarding funds up to five applicants, per funding availability.

Contact Information:
For additional information regarding this competition, contact:

Jessica Duncan
School Behavioral Health Outreach Specialist
Division of Health and Wellness
[email protected]