Past Grants

Spring 2024 Grants Approved

Rye Elementary School

NorthEast Passage Ability Awareness Program
Visiting program to inspire empathy & understanding for those with physical challenges.
Grant Amount: $1050.00

Lee Ingraham Legacy Grant
Grant to support the purchase of new books for the RES book vending machine.
Grant Amount: $500.00


Rye Junior High School

Let RJH Raise the Roof
Student-led fundraiser to benefit the purchase of a new roof on Nicaraguan school.
Grant Amount: $420.00

8th Grade Food Truck Face Off
Opportunity for students to create food truck businesses in Explore class offering. Students will create business plan, marketing material and food samples to be shared at the business expo at RJH.
Grant Amount: $2,500.00

A Rye Renaissance Faire
Immersive project based learning initiative across all disciplines in 7th grade, culminating in a student-led Renaissance Faire to be held at Parson’s field this spring.
Grant Amount: $3,850.00

Building Diverse Libraries at RJH
Subscription book service to refresh ELA classroom libraries, including the literacy interventionist.
Grant Amount: $2250.00

Soup-a-licious
Soup focused sample day at RJH cafeteria to showcase the nutritional and economical benefits of soup.
Grant Amount: $601.25

Aquaponics Gardening System
Expansion of the successful 6th grade Hydroponics gardening system, implementing an Aquaponic ecosystem used to grow lettuce used in the school lunch program.
Grant Amount: $3000.00

Auschwitz. Not Long Ago, Not Far Away
8th grade trip to exhibition in Boston.
Grant Amount: $807.30

The Kindness Experience
RJH all school assembly showcasing Recycled Percussion.
Grant Amount: $5000.00

Solar Telescope
Telescope purchased for safe, in depth viewing of 2024 solar eclipse.
Grant Amount: $589.00

Montreal Field Trip
Support of the world language teacher chaperoning 8th grade field trip to Montreal to provide expertise on french language and culture.
Grant Amount: $1000.00



Fall 2023 Grants Approved

Rye Elementary School Strong Words Strong Minds
Creation of an Affirmation Zone which will provide students with an area to help regulate their bodies and minds.
Grant Amount: $411.61

Building Diverse Book Collections at RES: Unified Arts & Special Ed
Provide collections of diverse materials relating to culture, ethnicity and gender for use in unified arts and special education areas.
Grant Amount: $3,7000.00

Lookout Platforms in the Outdoor Classroom
Creation of a lookout platform in the Riptide Reserve, allowing students to observe wildlife from a different perspective and give students more access to environmental observation.
Grant Amount: $5,596.64

Music Equipment
For the purchase of mic stands and cables to be able to effectively use existing music gear and for the purchase of musical equipment for use by the 4th grade band.
Grant Amount: $243.27

The Falcon Comes to Rye
Fourth grade students will meet and learn from a master falconer and a Harris’ Hawk.
Grant Amount: $500.00

RES Blue Ribbon Celebration Video
Creation of a professional video highlighting a day in the life of RES, a Blue Ribbon School.
Grant Amount: $400.00

Suzanne Lull Legacy Grant
For the purchase of supplies and equipment in support of outdoor education.
Grant Amount: $500.00

Rye Junior High School
Lowell National Historical Park: River as a Classroom
A scientific adventure for eighth grade students to the Merrimack River Watershed, a dynamic living laboratory for the study of ecosystems and earth science.
Grant Amount: $960.00

Bringing World Language Alive in the Kitchen
Through a partnership with King Arthur Baking, students will be exposed to a world of baking that is inclusive and truly open to all. KAB has created instructional videos in French and Spanish to teach our students both baking and world languages. Using instructional videos in Spanish and French, students will have the opportunity to learn from community experts.
Grant Amount: $1,800.00

Rye 400 Holiday Ornaments
Students will use the laser cutter to create holiday ornaments to celebrate Rye 400 as part of a Math enrichment activity.
Grant Amount: $436.52

The Playground Project
This grant was initiated, researched and written by RJH students for the purchase of new recess equipment.
Grant Amount: $291.62



Spring 2023 Grants Approved

Rye Elementary School Building Diverse Classroom Libraries
Initiative to build inclusive classroom libraries with stories that provide exposure to a variety of different cultures, genders & ethnicities. Submitted by: Ms. Wheeler & Mrs.Pitts
Grant Amount: $6,000.00

Historic Homes of Rye
QTrolley tour of historic homes in Rye & supplies for students to build home replicas in celebration of Rye 400th anniversary. Submitted by: 4th grade team
Grant Amount: $1,558.58

Special Ed Multisensory Library
Provide materials & tools for students to experience sequential, explicit, systematic, and multi-sensory instruction. Submitted by: Ms. Fabrycki & Ms. Edwards
Grant Amount: $3,374.00

RES Drama Program
Funding for the 2023-24 school year drama program for 3rd & 4th graders at RES. Submitted by: Mrs. Pitts
Grant Amount: $4,500.00

Lee Ingraham annual grant award
Refresh for book vending machine.
Grant Amount: $500.00

Rye Junior High School
Birds of Play
Field trip to the Center for Wildlife in Cape Neddick, ME and materials for students to create games & puzzles for the animal ambassadors. Submitted by: 5th grade team
Grant Amount: $2,800.00

History Alive: Newsies the Musical
5th & 6th grade field trip to Seacoast Rep for production about US child labor & the Newsboys Strike of 1899. Submitted by: Ms. Gianforte
Grant Amount: $2,000.00

Math Enrichment Club
Materials to create two after school clubs open to all 5/6 & 7/8 students with enriching & engaging hands-on math activities. Submitted by: Ms. Whitney
Grant Amount: $3,200.00

Strength & Conditioning Equipment
Specific equipment for Strength & Conditioning PE seminars, grades 5-8. Submitted by: Mr. Cartilage
Grant Amount: $1,923.15

Both RES & RJH
Portsmouth Time Machine Historic Comic
Visits to RES & RJH by local historian/author and illustrator of graphic history book of Portsmouth/Rye/New Castle. 40 copies of book for school libraries. Submitted by: Ms. Wheeler & Ms. Brown
Grant Amount: $1,900.00



Fall 2022 Grants Approved

Rye Elementary School

Bass Drop
Three complete sets including electric bass, amp, stand, chord and strap to introduce bass playing in all grade levels. The bass can be played in every music class and will be included in every concert.
Grant Amount: $1,257.00

Boogie Board Magic Sketch Reusable Kids’ ColorBurst Drawing Pads
Quantity of six to help make repetitive learning and practice more fun and engaging.
Grant Amount: $179.94

iPads for the STEAM Room
Quantity of eleven new iPads to enhance the STEAM curriculum.
Grant Amount: $9,489.00

Outdoor Fire Pit
Creation of fire pit in the outdoor education space for interdisciplinary use by all grade levels.
Grant Amount: $597.14

Pollinator Garden
Create a "magical" and educational space that engages students in a multitude of interdisciplinary exploration and extends outdoor education beyond the woods.
Grant Amount: $4,957.44

Suzanne Lull Grant for Outdoor Education
Grant Amount: $500.00

Rye Junior High School

Global Partnerships in the Spanish Classroom
Through the nonprofit Level Up Village, Rye students will engage with students in Spanish-speaking countries in real-world applications that develop speaking, listening, writing and cultural understanding.
Grant Amount: $1,400.00

Highland Center
Overnight interdisciplinary experience for 7th grade students.
Grant Amount: $7,353.00

Hydroponics Gardening and Farming Wall
Quantity of two large hydroponic growing systems with LED grow lights that support science units on scientific inquiry, cells/photosynthesis and human impacts on the earth.
Grant Amount: $3,222.43

Laser Cutter “Future-Proofing”
Provide updated software and hardware as well as staff training to maximize use of laser cutter.
Grant Amount: $2,786.00

Life Skills Sewing Machines
Quantity of four sewing machines for use across all grade levels.
Grant Amount: $1,999.96

What’s Below the Surface: Exploring the Waterways of Rye
7th grade interdisciplinary project-based learning unit utilizing SeaPerch ROV kits.
Grant Amount: $5,111.36

Spring 2022 Grants Approved

Rye Elementary School

Give It a Try RES
Students offered five different “unusual” foods provided by local restaurants.
Grant Amount: $452.04

Maple Sugaring
Set up maple sugaring program where student tap trees, collect sap and create maple syrup.
Grant Amount: $1,761.32

Sensory Grant
Provide a variety of specialized hands-on items to help students access appropriate sensory input. For use in OT and general education classrooms.
Grant Amount: $2,587.36

Lee Ingraham Grant
Books for use in the Book Vending Machine.
Grant Amount: $500

Rye Junior High

Climbing to Our Best Self
7th grade field trip to Adventurelore to enhance social emotional learning.
Grant Amount: $2,895

Give It a Try RJH
Students offered five different “unusual” foods provided by local restaurants.
Grant Amount: $652.04

Student Council Project
Student council members will practice their executive functioning skills by organizing and maintaining supplies.
Grant Amount: $461.18

Fall 2021 Grants Approved

Rye Elementary School

Outdoor Lunch Patio
Eight tables for Outdoor lunch patio.
Grant Amount: $3,137

Robotics
Robots and coding mat to teach early coding skills and computational thinking.
Grant Amount: $1,113.34

Printing Our Way Through STEAM
Circuit Maker and 3D Printer to develop graphic and computer design skills.
Grant Amount: $4,464.17

First Grade Headphones
Set of fifty headphones and cases for use by entire 1st grade.
Grant Amount: $1,177.04

Rye Junior High School

Laser Cutter Training
Grant Amount: $900

6th Grade Team Building
Field trip to downtown Portsmouth for scavenger hunt
Grant Amount: $1,174.53

Aquaponics Engineering Challenge
Teams of student design and build sustainable aquaponic growing systems.
Grant Amount: $2,347.56

STEAM Stops and Story Walks
Students create a series of interactive STEAM Stops with questions posed relating to how math/science connects to their everyday environment.
Grant Amount: $5,000

Rye Civic Engagement
Students participate in mock visioning session and create long range plan for future of Rye.
Grant Amount: $1,500

Underwater Robotics Pool Competition
Indoor pool rental to provide students with an authentic challenge course for their marine ROVs.
Grant Amount: $1,000

Spring 2021 Grants Approved

Rye Elementary School

Outdoor Education Clothing and Reading List
Outdoor clothing for students without and resource books for students to supplement outdoor education program
Grant Amount: $4,020.00

Garden Back to Life (Refurbish II)
Purchase of seating, shed, composter, worms, gardening tools, mats & gloves. Building on previous grants, this will jump start the garden into a functioning space for the RES community
Grant Amount: $3,457.46

Garden Irrigation
Installation of irrigation to enhance Garden Refurbish grants
Grant Amount: $2,325.00

Schoolyard Habitat
Purchase of trail cameras, binoculars and clipboards to generate interdisciplinary and environmental investigations within the Roxaboxen property. Supports phase one of outdoor education initiative: With whom do we share this space?
Grant Amount: $1,132.94

Lee Ingraham Grant
Book vending machine refresher
Grant Amount: $500

Monitors and Adaptors
Monitors and adaptors for remote learning improvement in classrooms for RES and RJH.
Grant Amount: $7,391.67

Rye Junior High & Elementary School

Interactive Lobbies
Replace outdated technology with Airtame devices in lobbies of both schools. Provide an easy way to share daily announcements, slide shows, etc. with school community.
Grant Amount: $2,735.01

Rye Junior High School

Beauty and the Beasts
A network of picture posts and Cuddeback field cameras to be installed throughout Wedgewood property for student observation, research and projects.
Grant Amount: $4,566.63

Fall 2020 Grants Approved

Rye Junior High & Elementary School

Monitors and Adaptors
Monitors and adaptors for remote learning improvement in classrooms for RES and RJH.
Grant Amount: $7,391.67

Rye Junior High School

Band and Guitar Instruments
Purchased instruments to enhance inventory for music program at RJH.
Grant Amount: $3,954.65

Summer 2020 Grants Approved

Rye Elementary School

UV Wands
Ultra violet disinfectant wands for each classroom at RES to help eliminate COVID exposure.
Grant Amount: $2,400

2020 Spring Grants

Stand Up Desks
Eight stand up desks for each classroom at RES. Additional $1000 donated by Cable Road Collaborative.
Grant amount: $3,260

Lee Ingraham Grant
Read aloud books for S.T.E.A.M program.
Grant amount: $500

Geometric Construction
Using the REF-funded laser cutter at RJH, 7th grade math students will use materials to understand integration of algebra in other domains.
Grant amount: $1,000

Immersion in Literature
RJH students attend “To Kill a Mockingbird” at the Boston Opera House in January 2021.
Grant amount: $5,330

2019 Fall Grants

The RES-taurant
Student kitchen with refrigerator, stove, microwave and accessories to facilitate hands-on learning in culinary and life skills curriculum.
Grant amount: $3,200

Empty Bowls for Gather
Community service event to support international movement started 30 years ago where students create bowls and help prepare food for community fundraiser while learning about food insecurity in vulnerable communities.
Grant amount: $1,500

Eyes n’ Ears Creativity Workshop
Visual jazz painting workshop to teach students how to listen to music with depth and understanding and to paint freely and authentically while exploring common language between art and music.
Grant amount: $4,000

Wing It
Project based learning curriculum using airplane kits to explore the application of complex mathematics and aerodynamics through the investigation of flight and trajectory motion.
Grant amount: $5,888

Who Am I and What I Believe
Speaker from UNH Carsey School of Public Policy to examine patterns in our society that lead to biases after Rye Junior High students read To Kill a Mockingbird.
Grant amount: $3,000

Teaching Proficiency Through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS)
Online access to a program that allows junior high students to develop fluency and accuracy in foreign language.
Grant amount: $500

RJH Virtual Reality Museum
CoSpaces, an online virtual reality program, with equipment allows students to create an historically accurate world.
Grant amount: $4,033

RJH Fitness Room
Improving equipment and wellness tools in the junior high fitness room.
Grant amount: $450

2019 Spring Grants

Environmental Club
Stipend to enlist RES teacher and purchase supplies for project-based environmental activism.
Grant amount: $1,600

Browne Center at UNH
Social and emotional 3rd grade experience at the Browne Center in Durham to introduce concepts and benefits of the curriculum. Parents’ night to explain the benefits of the program.
Grant amount: $2,125

Story Corps
7th and 8th grade pilot program with the help of writer, Stephanie Lazenby, to create podcasts with mantra, “Listen, Honor, Share” collecting stories for Rye’s 400th anniversary in 2023.
Grant amount: $2,450

Wave Riding
An extension of the P.O.W.E.R. project, this grant affords each student at RJH the opportunity to build a wooden “paipo” board teaching crafting skills along with fostering healthy living by using the boards in our local ocean.
Grant amount: $5,158

Lee Ingraham Grant
“Forever Books” for the vending machine at RES to help promote the SEL initiative of S.O.A.R.
Grant amount: $500

2018 Fall Grants

The Global Village
Drama educator, Stephanie Lazenby worked with 3rd grade modeling her program, Writing Enrichment through Theater, bringing curriculum to life through live performance theater.
Grant amount: $3,600

Math Racks for Counting
Rekenreks for 1st grade to help master counting and basic math facts.
Grant amount: $330

Power Lift Off! Drones
Introduction to drone curriculum, safety, piloting mission planning and execution as well as real life applications with drone kits for Rye Junior High students.
Grant amount: $5,500

2018 Spring Grants

We Do Robotics
A one-year subscription of lessons and curriculum featuring high quality electronic learning environment.
Grant amount: $700

It Takes a Village
Supply grades K-1 students with set of KIBO robots. KIBOs are unique because they do not use phones, tablets, nor screens to teach children coding; 100% hands-on learning.
Grant amount: $4,941

Lee Ingraham Grant
Provide 3rd grade with three copies of 10 different read-aloud books to support S.T.E.A.M. activities in the classrooms.
Grant amount: $500

Hurricane Island Grant
Fund a three-day trip for Spring 2019 to Vinalhaven, Maine for 6th grade students and team. This program gives students an opportunity to explore how they can be both scientists and environmental stewards, while considering the impact humans have on the marine environment.
Grant amount: $15,698

P.O.W.E.R. (Power of Water as Energy and a Resource)
Project-based learning unit that fosters student exploration of the many facets of “power” and promotes student awareness of how to use “power” in a positive, productive, and healthy manner.
Grant amount: $3,600

C-Pen Reader
Portable pocket-sized pens that read text aloud support one of the main goals of special education, to provide discreet support while fostering student independence.
Grant amount: $500

2017 Fall Grants

Celebrating S.T.E.A.M. with water
3rd grade teachers combine the disciplines of S.T.E.A.M. to teach students the importance and value of our water and the ocean surrounding us, including a field trip to the Seacoast Science Center.
Grant amount: $2,173

Playing Our Story
Eight-week residency that incorporates visual arts and theater, which concludes with a public performance at RES, A Summer in Rye, performed by 4th and 5th graders.
Grant amount: $4,000

World Map Project
3rd and 5th grades collaborate to create a handmade map using a grid system with the goal of painting a permanent world map on the wall outside of the library. This grant follows the "World Map Project" used by Peace Corp volunteers around the world.
Grant amount: $1,200

Level-Up Village Language Lab
This program gives 8th grade Spanish students a year to work with a global classroom to improve their communication, writing, and understanding of the Spanish-speaking countries' language and cultures.
Grant amount: $1,430

Rye Rowing Regatta
Funded two boat kits for the 7th and 8th grades as part of a larger scaled S.T.E.A.M. initiative, "Find Your Swing" that culminated in May 2018 at the Rye Rowing Regatta on Rye Harbor.
Grant amount: $9,302

Moth Jr.
Storytelling without scripts or notes with a goal to promote a cultural shift amongst middle-school students that encourages empathy and new perspective. It supports the curriculum of memoir writing and storytelling.
Grant amount: $425

Lee Ingraham Grant
Provides three copies of 10 different read-aloud books to support 3rd grade S.T.E.A.M. activities in the classrooms.
Grant amount: $500

2017 Spring Grants

S.T.E.A.M. Studio
A Maker-Space for the entire school using an empty classroom to design a space where all teachers gain access to materials to help generate ideas for students to explore Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (S.T.E.A.M.).
Grant amount: $3,361

Active Body-Active Minds
Flexible seating for Kindergarten and 1st grade to move from traditional types of seating to flexible (wobbly) seating enabling students to choose a position that would support them in doing their best work.
Grant amount: $5,376

We Do Lego Robotics
Robotics for the 2nd and 3rd grade where students design, construct, debug, operate, present, and record their learning process and products by way of photos and videos stored in their student portfolio.
Grant amount: $4,531

IXL Language Arts
Language arts teachers in 6th, 7th and 8th grades use to direct and guide students on which skills to focus on during specific units of instruction. Reports are generated so teachers can monitor students’ progress and time spent mastering various concepts.
Grant amount: $1,602

Summer Reading
Rye Junior High students given a self-selected book over the summer in order to prepared for the start classes in the fall.
Grant amount: $1,150

Hummingbird Robotics
Electronics assembly kits for 6th graders to be re-used for multiple projects.
Grant amount: $4,498

Osprey Turn on Camera
Funded eight months of data service to observe wildlife and support bird and wildlife investigative opportunity for students.
Grant amount: $2,072

Lee Ingraham Grant
Take Home Reading Library for students who receive intervention services in reading.
Grant amount: $500

2016 Fall Grants

Uganda Program
Cross cultural exchange program between 3rd grade and Ugandan school children who collaboratively write and illustrate a book about "Hope."
Grant amount: $2,000

Puppetry Residency
4th grade puppet making and play writing in conjunction with seven-day, artist-in-residence with No Strings Marionette Company.
Grant amount: $4,400

Outdoor Classroom
Construct an outdoor classroom near greenhouse, including hardscape, benches and "sail" sunshade. Labor donated by Green Penguin Landscaping.
Grant amount: $7,683

Stand up Desks
Six stand up desks for the 8th grade language arts classroom as a pilot program to determine use and effectiveness.
Grant amount: $2,334

Corp Field Day
Provided two buses and two substitutes for teachers to take 8th grade on a fieldtrip to three area companies to explore college and career readiness.
Grant amount: $410

Art 'Round Rye
Frames, hooks, and wire to display student art in various community venues on a rotating basis.
Grant amount: $400

Greenhouse Grant
In partnership with the PTA, to fund a greenhouse at Rye Junior High School.
Grant amount: $1,544
Robotics
Purchase of robotics equipment for RJH science 7th and 8th grade program.
Grant amount: $24,867

Lee Ingraham Grant
Art History Unit conducted in 5th Grade World Language Class.
Grant amount: $500

2015 Fall Grants

Personalizing the Learning Path
Supported by the purchase of iPads for the 4th grade, an effort to focus on personalized learning for students on a wide continuum of academic progress, helps assist project based learning outside of the classroom as well as in it.
Grant amount: $2,220

Fairy Tales
Exploration of history of fairy tales and fractured fairy tales written over the last 20 years, supported by an in-school performance by a puppeteer and 30 fractured fairy tale books for the 3rd grade.
Grant amount: $1,291

Social Thinking
Pilot program for RES guidance curriculum on social and emotional learning.
Grant amount: $2,237

Common Core Problem Solving
Common Core math workbooks for each 3rd grade student had a combination of math journaling and computation to help supplement the curriculum.
Grant amount: $582

Rye History
A professional development program for SAU 50 teachers in using primary sources from Rye Historical Society to teach local history.
Grant amount: $2,780

Gotcha!
Stop motion video and sound gathering equipment for students to document and study wildlife.
Grant amount: $5,347

2015 Spring Grants

Eyes n’ Ears Creativity Workshop
Visual jazz painting workshop to teach students how to listen to music with depth and understanding and to paint freely and authentically while exploring common language between art and music.
Grant amount: $4,000

World Language Learning Labs
Laptops and microphones to practice speaking, reading, writing skills.
Grant amount: $2,540
Osprey Project
S.T.E.A.M. based research including a live bird cam that authenticated current environmental research practices by studying Osprey in their natural environment.
Grant amount: $5,556

Read & Write for Google
Google Apps for Education accessible for those with reading and writing difficulties, learning disabilities such as Dyslexia, or English language learners.
Grant amount: $819
Video Equipment
Digital equipment and cameras for making student and teacher videos at Rye Junior High School.
Grant amount: $2,441

3D Printer Project
Hands on experience with engineering and design processes on a 3D printer.
Grant amount: $3,660

Lee Ingraham Grant
Biography Books—books to support curriculum and Live Wax Museum Project.
Grant amount: $500