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Over the past few months, charter schools across the nation shared with us inspiring stories of Student Empowerment, Community Engagement, and Educational Innovation. Jewels of excellent education shine in communities in every state, and the depth of their dedication to their students is inspiring.
We have selected a short list of Semi-Finalists and Honorable Mentions to call out as shining examples of the impact charter schools can have on students, families, and communities.
Thank you to all the applicants to this year’s grants program for putting your love in action to help students thrive each and every day.
There is no greater gift to the world than to help a child learn.
You build lives.
You build futures.
You build hope.
We will be sharing the list of Finalists and our Shellie-Ann Braswell Shine Brighter Volunteer Awards finalists in March.
This year’s BH IMPACT SUMMIT will be hosted at the Miami Dade North Campus and the Intercontinental Doral on May 3 & 4. It will be open to charter leaders from across the country, so please save the date and check back the first week of March for more details. Sign up for BH Connect to get the latest and to connect with leaders from across the charter landscape.
One $20,000 grant &
Two $10,000 grants
Charter schools that empower students to be creators of their own futures by providing effective support and programs for each individual student are candidates.
Exploration High School – Minneapolis, MN
Galileo School for Gifted Learning – Skyway – Sanford, FL
Life Learning Academy – San Francisco, CA
MicroSociety Academy Charter School – Nashua, NH
New Harmony High – New Orleans, LA
North Lawndale College Prep – Chicago, IL
Siembra Leadership High School – Albuquerque, NM
One $20,000 grant &
Two $10,000 grants
Charter schools that engage local communities in partnership and shared purpose to make their corner of the world a better place are ideal candidates.
Yoder Charter School – Haven, KS
Horse Creek Academy – Aiken, SC
Memphis STEM Academy Elementary School – Memphis, TN
Middleburg Community Charter School – Middleburg, VA
International Community School – Decatur, GA
Amy Biehl High School – Albuquerque, NM
Codman Academy – Dorchester, MA
One $20,000 grant &
Two $10,000 grants
Charter schools that play outside “the box” and take risks to best prepare the students of today for the world of tomorrow.
Libertas School – Memphis, TN
Legal Prep Charter Academy – Chicago, IL
Malama Honua Public Charter School – Waimanalo, HI
ArtSpace Charter School – Swannanona, NC
Rooted School New Orleans – New Orleans, LA
Health Leadership High School – Albuquerque, NM
Logos Public Charter School – Medford, OR
One $20,000 grant &
Two $10,000 grants
Charter schools and small charter networks that have perfected their model and demonstrated long-term impact on their students and communities.
True North Classical Academies – Miami, FL
Souderton Charter School Collaborative – Souderton, PA
Academy at the Farm – Dade City, FL
Sierra Expeditionary Learning School – Truckee, CA
Greenville Technical Charter High School – Greenville, SC
Orange County School of the Arts – Santa Ana, CA and California School of the Arts – San Gabriel Valley – Duarte, CA
NYOS Charter School – Austin, TX
One $5,000 grant
Award named in honor of a dedicated volunteer leader who led with love and made everything around her shine brighter. This award recognizes one charter school volunteer who embody the spirit and is making memories for charter school families to cherish.
Cara Nowak – Desert Sky Montessori – Memphis, TN
Mark Horst – Yoder Charter School – Yoder, KS
Megan Hunt – Carolina Charter Academy – Angier, NC
Academia Antonia Alonso Charter School – Newark, DE
Bob Hope School – Port Arthur, TX
DC Preparatory Academy – Washington, DC
Karl G. Maeser Preparatory Academy – Lindon, UT
South Florida Autism Charter Schools – Hialeah, FL
The New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School
– New Orleans, LA
A way to recognize and support charter schools who are excelling in advancing education through community engagement, student empowerment, and educational innovation, and schools who are proven sustainable charter school models. We are also recognizing a charter school volunteer who has gone above-and-beyond in creating memories for students and a culture of proactive service in the school community.
Our goal is to distribute 13 Grants in total:
IMPACT AWARDS for Charter Schools:
Community Engagement: One $20,000 grant award winner. Two $10,000 finalist grants.
Student Empowerment: One $20,000 grant award winner. Two $10,000 finalist grants.
Educational Innovation: One $20,000 grant award winner. Two $10,000 finalist grants.
Model Charter School: One $20,000 grant award winner. Two $10,000 finalist grants.
IMPACT AWARD for Individual Charter School Volunteer:
Shellie-Ann Braswell “Shine Brighter” Charter Volunteer Award: One $5,000 grant.
We are also providing finalists an expense-paid trip to D.C. for our Building Hope Impact Summit & Awards to connect and collaborate with fellow charter leaders and leaders in the charter education space through programming dedicated to digging deep into what makes charter schools successful and how to level-up the IMPACT of the work.
Charter schools who have been operating for at least one school year and are in good standing with their districts/authorizers are eligible for IMPACT Grants. Only one award category can be applied for by a single charter school location for Student Empowerment, Community Engagement, and Educational Innovation. The Model Charter School award requirements are for schools who have at least achieved their first charter renewal, and small networks of schools (under 10 locations) may apply as a group. Charter school volunteers who have at least one year of service at a school may apply for the Shellie-Ann Braswell Shine Brighter Award.
No. However, you may nominate a volunteer from your school for the Shine Brighter Award.
Yes. Please visit our site https://buildinghope.org/impact/awards/ for the online form. After your nomination, we will send an email to the school or individual with an invitation to formally apply.
You may not nominate yourself for the individual Shine Brighter Award. Schools can directly apply for grants.
Our IMPACT Ambassadors will conduct initial rounds of vetting applicants for eligibility, and then through a baseline scoring rubric to evaluate submitted materials on Impact, Program, Leadership, Growth, and Support to provide to the Selection Committee. Our Selection Committee, comprised of BH Board of Directors members, BH Leadership, Sponsors, and other Educational Leaders, and former Grant Award winners, will review applications, conduct interviews via Zoom, and select in-person school visits, as well review of a final presentation at the BH IMPACT Summit & Awards. Applicant Semi-Finalists and Finalists will be announced on our site and in social channels. Final Award Selection and Grants will be determined at the Summit. Finalist applicants will be expected to deliver a 10-minute IMPACT Talk at the Summit to the Selection Committee to help determine final grant awards
Our Grants will be evaluated on Impact, Program, Leadership, Growth, and Support. More details are here (make the link jump to a detail page) and ongoing Q&A will be available at BHConnect (need the link to the board).
Save the dates of May 1-5. Finalists will have an expense-paid trip to DC for the deep-dive workshops, networking, sharing and learning experience.
Semi-finalists will be invited to participate in the in-person sessions. We will also film the sessions for all applicants to benefit virtually from the knowledge-share and brainstorms that can help all charter schools level-up. Tickets to the Awards Dinner will also be made available for purchase.
Applications are now closed for the 2022-2023 award year.