$350K Shared Campus Grant Announced

Public and charter schools in Newark will have an easier time coexisting in , thanks to a $350,000 grant partially funded by the $100 million donated by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, officials announced Monday. The grant will facilitate a more unified environment at shared campuses throughout the city by funding community-oriented initiatives.

"We've seen across the city the very beginnings of relationship building and these grants will accelerate that," said Newark Superintendent Cami Anderson. "(It will allows us to) ask teams … what can we do to share what's working in School A and School B and use them as ingredients to lift up all of our kids?"

Over the next two years, schools at eight shared campuses (see list below) can apply for grants ranging between $10,000 and $50,000 funded by Newark Public Schools, Newark Education Trust and Foundation for Newark's Future, which manages the Facebook money.

The new grant, dispersed as early as Dec. 1, can be used for professional development, enhancing parent and family engagement and creating a unified shared campus identity. The cash can pay for activities like weekend leadership retreats, parent workshops and campus-wide art projects, but cannot be used for facilities projects.

"We acknowledge and understand the complex challenges facing shared campuses," said Ross Danis, of NET, which will provide technical assistance to grantees. "We believe this effort is an overall approach to address those challenges."

The shared campus plan, announced by Anderson on her in June, called for the restructuring of the school district through consolidations of schools, merging of charter schools into existing schools and creation of new high schools. The plan is project to in facilities costs.

Details of the new grant were unveiled at George Washington Carver Elementary School, which with Bruce Street School for the Deaf and charter school SPARK Academy in the city's South Ward. Dr. Winston Jackson, principal of Carver and Bruce Street schools, and SPARK Principal Joanna Belcher said, if awarded the grant, they'd like to expand already existing initiatives, like parent mixers and in-class observations.

Belcher said she and Jackson will collaboratively decide "areas where both our schools want to grow, or where one school has a great best practice to share" when applying for the shared campuses grant.

FNF announced last month the , a two-year, $600,000 initiative that will allow teachers to design their own classroom programs. Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who vowed to match the $100 million Facebook donation when it was announced last September, has so far raised $48 million, according to FNF's chief executive officer Gregory Taylor.

The following shared campuses are eligible to receive grant money:

• George Washington Carver building: George Washington Carver Elementary School, TEAM Academy (charter), and Bruce Street School for the Deaf
• Burnet Street building: Burnet Street Elementary School and Great Oaks (charter)
• Camden Middle School building: People's Prep (charter), Bard High School Early College (new school), and Newark Bridges (new school)
• Newark Vocational building: Newark Leadership Academy (new school) and Newark Vocational High School
• 13th Avenue building: 13th Avenue Elementary and North Star Academy III (charter)
• Quitman Street building: Quitman Street School and Wilson Avenue School
• Louis A. Spencer building: Louis A. Spencer Elementary and Newark Early College High School
• West Side NAF building: West Side NAF Academy, Performance Learning Center and Big Picture Learning Sites