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The Georgia Department of Education is awarding $899,420 in Opportunity Grants to help school districts expand options and opportunities for their students, State School Superintendent Richard Woods announced today. The funds will support opportunities in world languages, fine arts, physical education, summer learning, and Advanced Placement and accelerated learning.

“These grants allow schools and districts to continue to expanding opportunities and ensuring an excellent education for students across the state," Superintendent Woods said. “Education is more than just the core content areas, and this funding will ensure students have access to opportunities that prepare them for life and keep them engaged in school."

The list of 12 different types of Opportunity Grants follows.

Advanced Placement (AP) and Accelerated Learning

  • 11 AP Teacher Mentoring Grants will provide financial support for districts to design a mentoring program for teachers, including mentoring activities. The grant funds will allow schools to offer focused support to new or experienced AP teachers who seek to improve their instructional practices. The list of awardees is available here.​
  • 16 Advanced Placement Summer Institute (APSI) grants will allow non-AP teachers to attend the AP Summer Institute training for their subject area to help districts build vertical alignment for access to accelerated learning in schools. The training will increase teachers' content knowledge and expand opportunities for students to participate in AP classes by providing teachers with in-depth content and strategies appropriate for high school courses. The list of awardees is available here.
  • 3 Building Teacher Capacity for Accelerated and Integrating Learning grants will allow Regional Educational Service Agencies (RESAs) to provide professional learning to build teachers' capacity to develop integrated instructional practices that will result in accelerated student learning. Each RESA's project or initiative is designed based on the needs of school districts within the RESA region. The list of awardees is available here.
  • 13 Summer Bridge Program for Rural Districts grants will support rural school districts' efforts to provide educational opportunities during the summer months. The design of these programs is to accelerate and integrate learning for students in grades K-8 to ease their transition from one grade to the next. The list of awardees is available here.

World Language and Dual Language Immersion

  • 16 World Languages Innovation grants will provide opportunities for public schools in Georgia to create and enhance existing programs and activities that connect world language instruction with other academic areas. The list of awardees is available here.
  • 4 World Languages START-UP Dual Language Immersion grants will support the start of four new Dual Language Immersion (DLI) programs, including the first-ever in middle Georgia, thereby expanding access to these innovative programs in Georgia communities. The list of awardees is available here.
  • 14 World Languages Sustaining Dual Language Immersion grants will support existing DLI programs and teachers in Georgia by providing resources to support DLI training and instruction. The list of awardees is available here.
  • 4 World Languages Providing Access for Rural Teachers for New Equipment and Resources (PARTNER) grants will allow world language teachers to implement sustainable world language instruction initiatives and increase access to quality world language education. The list of awardees is available here.

Fine Arts

  • 108 Fine Arts Consumables and Equipment (FACE) grants will allow fine arts teachers to implement sustainable fine arts education instruction initiatives to increase access to quality fine arts education. The list of awardees is available here.

Physical Education

  • 18 Physical Education Project (PEP) grants will provide physical education teachers opportunities to implement sustainable physical education initiatives and increase access to quality physical education. The list of awardees is available here.
  • 7 Physical Education Project Grant Rural (PEPR) grants will provide opportunities for physical education teachers in rural school systems in Georgia to implement sustainable physical education initiatives and increase access to quality physical education. The list of awardees is available here.
  • 45 Student Fitness Education Program and Equipment (STEP) grants will provide physical education teachers opportunities to implement sustainable fitness education instruction initiatives and acquire the necessary equipment to increase access to quality fitness education. The list of awardees is available here.

The Opportunity Grants are made possible through federal stimulus funds under the American Rescue Plan (ARP – ESSER). ​