Washoe Country School District
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Federal Grants
Race to the Top-District (RTT-D)
WCSD is currently applying for this federal grant. For more information, please click here.
School Improvement Grant (SIG)
School Improvement Grants (SIG) are federal grants for use in Title I schools and secondary Title I eligible but not served schools identified for improvement, corrective action, or restructuring. In applying for the grant, school districts must demonstrate the greatest need for the funds and the strongest commitment to use the funds to provide resources to substantially raise student achievement. There are three categories of schools as determined by the Nevada Department of Education: Tier I, Tier II and Tier III schools. Tier I and Tier II identified schools must implement one of four school intervention models: Turnaround, Transformation, Closure and Restart. The Turnaround and Transformation models involve changes in staffing to develop teacher and leadership effectiveness. The other two options, Closure and Restart, are either not allowed by statute or are not appropriate for our district at this time.
The seven SIG schools in Washoe County School District are: Duncan Elementary, Loder Elementary, Smithridge Elementary, Veterans Elementary, Clayton Middle School, Dilworth Middle School and O'Brien Middle School.
EduJobs
Washoe County School District received $12,537,104.00 of Education Jobs funding to create instructional-based positions within its schools. The award period is August 10, 2010 through June 30, 2012. Approximately 75 WCSD schools have received support through this funding. Positions funded by Education Jobs include: classroom teachers, counselors, deans, classroom aides, classroom assistants, Implementation Specialists (teacher instructional coaches), Intervention Teachers, Parent Involvement Facilitators, ESL Teachers and Ed Tech Specialists. Funds have also been provided for stipends for teachers for teaching after school and summer school classes. In addition, eight charter schools were awarded an amount based on student enrollment.
High School Graduation Initiative (HSGI)
The High School Graduation Initiative (HSGI) will serve Washoe High School and its primary feeder middle schools, O’Brien and Vaughn. Students will be sought through Re-Engagement Centers which will provide specific academic personalized plans, social/emotional assistance, and/or other basic needs for students at-risk of dropping out or who have already dropped out of school. At-risk populations will be identified for early intervention strategies to prevent dropout and offered services with adult advocates and after-school tutoring. A “School Within a School” (SWS) model will replace the existing failed Washoe High School and will be implemented at three regionally located high schools beginning with North Valleys HS. The model will allow for smaller class sizes and greater accessibility to increase attendance and credit attainment. Over the next five years, the District will receive grant monies in the amount of $13,215,232 to develop programs that will assist students in graduating from high school.
Teacher Incentive Grant (TIF)
The Washoe County School District applied for and received the Teacher Incentive Fund Grant, or commonly referred to as the TIF Grant, in the spring of 2010. The TIF Grant application was submitted to support the district's goals and objectives outlined in Envision WCSD 2015 - Investing In Our Future. The TIF Grant process is one put forth by the U.S. Department of Education to allow districts to reform and improve their schools, reporting the results to the Department of Education as a possible basis for use nationwide. The Washoe School District TIF Grant focuses on 11 objectives to be implemented at nine pilot schools identified as high-need schools based on low performance on standardized test scores.
