Cleveland Foundation Awards $18 Million in Grants

CLEVELAND, OH - Eighteen million dollars in grants have been approved by the Cleveland Foundation. That means the organization will award more than $90 million through 2016. The foundation said that this month's giving is focused on Cleveland's youth.

“This month’s grants exemplify the foundation’s ongoing focus on young people and ensuring they are equipped to realize their full potential,” said Ronn Richard, president and CEO of the Cleveland Foundation, in an emailed statement. “Throughout the past year, and in partnership with our donors, we’re pleased that more than $91 million in grants enhanced the safety, health and overall well-being of all in our community.”

Of the $18 million to be doled out in grants this month, $1.65 million will be earmarked for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD). The district will use the funds for planning, design, and starting new schools.

In conjunction with the Carnegie Corporation of New York, which gave a $3 million grant, and the George Gund Foundation, which gave a $1 million grant, the district will open a "newly imagined" John Adams High School and two news schools at James R. Rhodes High School.

Funds will also be used to launch the Davis Aerospace and Maritime High School, which prepares students for careers in the titular fields. With both industries having hubs in Cleveland, there is a regular shortage of skilled workers, and the Davis school would be a way to address that shortage. Part of this grant will also support the ongoing academic redesign of the Cleveland School of the Arts and the phase-out of John F. Kennedy High School.

Another $350,000 of the grant will be used for the transformation of the district's career center high schools into the Academies of Cleveland, evolving five schools into comprehensive college preparatory and technical education institutions.

In addition, several grants will benefit teachers, Cleveland State University, and other academic institutions in the city.

Photo by Lisa Chamberlain, Flickr