The Indian River School District has received three grants from the State - totaling more than $2.2 million.
The grants will fund a variety of initiatives.
Indian River superintendent Mark Steele says one focus is improving the academic performance of English Language Learners and low-income students.
“Some of the money will be used for after-school programming; that’s always one of the most obvious things that we can do - we can extend that day for those kids who need the extra support," said Steele. "It will also be utilized to bring in extra personnel - who can come in and help and be people who are designated to help with language acquisition.”
Steele says some money will also go toward transportation for the after-school activities.
The district’s director of Elementary Education Kelly Dorman says the grant funding will also help teachers in the classroom on a daily basis,“Because we’ll be able to provide them more support with the resources and the professional development, as well as the personnel. So we’ll be able to differentiate instruction, do more small group instruction - pull out and push in - which will allow us to meet the specific needs of our students.”
The bulk of the grant money comes from a $2.1 million Delaware Department of Education Opportunity grant. The rest - just over $157,000 - comes from two State Reimagining Professional Learning grants.
