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Apple Grant for Professional Development Program Guidelines and Notes

Please read the following guidelines thoroughly if you would like to seek funding from GFFE's Apple Grant for Professional Development program.

General Information

The Apple Grant for Professional Development targets professional development opportunities for individual Guilford Public School teachers outside the scope of the district's regular operating budget. The Apple Grant for Professional Development is intended to facilitate an individual teacher's growth in knowledge of his/her subject or expertise in instructional/learning strategies. It is expected that the teacher's professional development experience will have a positive impact on student learning.

Eligibility for the Apple Grant for Professional Development

GFFE is pleased to offer the Apple Grant for Professional Development to tenured teachers in the Guilford Public School system. It is GFFE’s expectation that the applicant plans to be teaching in the district during the school year following the application submission.

No more than one APPLE Grant for Professional Development will be given to an individual during a twelve-month period. This is calculated from the notification date of the previous APPLE Grant for Professional Development submission.

The Committee will not fund training or course work directly required for a staff member's current position.

In order to maximize the impact of its funds, the GFFE will limit its grant awards to those applications which comply with the following:

  • The APPLE Grant for Professional Development should enhance, not duplicate, the district's regular professional development.
  • The application must be submitted on-lineand be received by the deadline date.
  • Two letters of support for the proposal must be e-mailed to GFFE at grants@gffe.org and received by the deadline. One letter must be from a colleague. One letter must be from a supervisor.
  • Applications must include a hard copy of the cover page with applicant's signature in order to be considered.
  • The successful applicant must agree to submit, within six months of the professional development activity, a report summarizing the professional development experience and the subsequent application of learning.

Funding for the General Grant Program

The Guilford Fund for Education has earmarked up to $10,000 for the funding of the Apple Grant for Professional Development Program during the 2009-10 academic year. The amount in future years will depend upon the generosity of the GFFE donors. Typical grants range from $150 to $1500. Requests for larger amounts will be considered. GFFE reserves the right to make partial awards for submitted proposals with the understanding that the applicant will obtain the additional monies needed from other sources.

GFFE believes that individuals should have a personal investment in their own professional development. Therefore, grants will be judged in part by the applicant's demonstration of personal commitment. This commitment might be in the form of a contribution of personal funds toward expenses and/or a non-monetary contribution such as donation of personal time, travel expenses, books, materials, etc. This should be reflected in the application's budget section.

Support from GFFE

A member of the GFFE Grants committee will be assigned to serve as "liaison" to each applicant.

Important Notes

The grant proposals should not seek funding to sustain existing programs or retroactive funding for an existing project.

The GFFE encourages collaborative funding and invites applicants to seek partial or additional funding from other sources.

Unfortunately, some requests may not be able to be funded due to limited resources. If this occurs, we strongly encourage the applicant to re-submit the application at a later time as the funds available to the Guilford Fund for Education grow.