Overview
Working in collaboration with Redwood High School, the Foundation raises funds to provide critical resources that make our school exceptional and benefit ALL Redwood students. The Foundation Allocation Committee reviews grant proposals from Redwood staff and students each Fall and Spring. Grant requestors seek support for projects or programs related to academics, art, student support, athletics and campus improvements. Previous Foundation grants have included funding for guest speakers, instructional materials, classroom furniture, technology upgrades and departmental supplies. Click here to view more specific examples.
Grant Review Process
- The RHSF allocations executive team and administration conduct an initial review of applications, assessing their alignment, feasibility and the availability of alternative funding sources.
- Grant applications meeting the Foundation’s guidelines are presented to the committee for review.
- Each grant will be reviewed based on its individual merit with emphasis on how the grant enhances the education or well being of RHS students and how many will be impacted.
- The Committee votes on each grant and the Committee Chairs record the the Committee’s recommendations.
- The Committee Chairs present the grants and Committee’s recommendations to the Executive Board who then votes to fund the grants.
- Approved funds are immediately disbursed to the school and are managed by Redwood’s budget secretary to ensure appropriate allocation of funds.
- The Foundation always strives to fund grant requests that meet the guidelines, but on some occasions, a request will have to be delayed, partially funded or denied.
Prior to Submitting a Grant Application
Carefully consider which projects would have the greatest benefit for the Redwood community. Please note, RHSF does not accept individual grant requests for the following:
- Field Trips: RHSF has previously approved an annual field trip grant which is available to all teachers through Principal Payne. As a result all individual field trip requests should be submitted directly to Principal Payne
- Professional Development: RHSF has previously approved an annual professional development grant available to all teachers through Principal Payne. As a result all individual professional development requests should be submitted directly to Principal Payne.
- Clubs: RHSF has previously approved a grant proposal from ASB to double their available funds to support clubs. As a result, RHSF does not accept grant requests from individual clubs and encourages all clubs to submit a request for funding through ASB.
- Food: RHSF does not accept grant requests for food for individual classroom celebrations or student group social gatherings/events. Requests involving food as part of the curriculum may be submitted for consideration.
- Swag and Merch: RHSF does not accept grant requests for merchandise or swag (aka sweatshirts) or any RHS branded items that the students keep.
- Gift Cards: RHSF can not fund requests for gift cards as they can’t be purchased through the budget office. We can “re-gift” gift cards that we receive from our community
Prepare budget information to include in the application. All expenditures should be clear and the total amount must include shipping, handling and sales tax.
Explore availability of funds from other sources.
If requesting technology, please review the TUHSD IT Standards
For any classroom or departmental grant requests, get pre-approval from the department head.
For any grant requests that physically impact the common areas of campus, get pre-approval from Saum Zargar.
Grant Cycles
The grant application will be emailed to all RHS staff at the start of each grant cycle:
- The Fall grant cycle is open for two weeks at the beginning of each September. The Committee reviews the grants in mid-October and the Board votes to fund the grants at the beginning of November.
- The Spring grant cycle is open for two weeks at the beginning of each March. The Committee reviews the grants in mid-April and the Board votes to fund the grants at the beginning of May. Funds approved in the Spring grant cycle are intend for summer projects or departments who need funds available at the start of the next school year.