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Grants for Excellence 2026
The Escambia County Public Schools goal with the Grants for Excellence program is to keep students engaged and excited about learning while simultaneously improving their performance and furthering Escambia County School District's goals outlined in the Strategic Plan.
Grants for Excellence are funded by the Escambia County Public School Foundation and matching grant funds from the School District Education Foundation Matching Grant Program through the Consortium of Florida Education Foundations. Grants are available for educators who work with students in grades K-12.
Grants for 2026 will be awarded in the priority areas:
- Career/Technical Education
- Increasing Graduation Rates
- Literacy
- Low-Performing Students
- STEM Education
- Teaching Quality/Improving Classroom Instruction
- Student Resiliency
Please be sure to read and follow all instructions before proceeding with the application process.
Grant Guidelines 2026:
All grants will be High Impact Grants: $2,000 - $7,500
- Collaboration across grade levels, subject areas, departments, or even schools to further the academic goals and vision of the District will be a large factor in determining awardees.
- One teacher/person shall be designated as the Project Leader. The Project Leader is responsible for keeping track of receipts and submitting the mid-year and end-of-year reports and evaluations. Should the Grants Committee have any questions, this is the person they will contact. Please note that the higher the amount requested, should reflect the higher number of students that should be impacted.
- Projects should focus on any one of the Priority Areas that engage and excite students about learning while simultaneously improving their performance and furthering Escambia County’s District goals.
- There is no limit to the number of grants that may be submitted from each school.
- A total of $100,000 will be awarded.
- All grant awards will be used for the purchase of supplies, materials, other equipment, hardware, software, or travel, etc. to support the project. The purchase of food, rewards or incentive prizes is not a priority for these funds. All funds spent on those type of items must be paid by the Foundation’s private donations as they are not allowable from the Consortium State Matching grant funding.
- Original, creative and innovative teaching approaches that address student needs.
- Appropriate, complete, and detailed budget.
- Defined outcomes with clear objectives stating what students should know and be able to do at the end of the project. (See Outcomes – think Initial, Intermediate and Long term; and Outputs in Resources section on the right-hand side of the application in the Definitions section).
- Any technology that is requested MUST be appropriately incorporated and vital to the project.
- Principals will be required to certify (approve) Grant Applications, so please include them in discussion and planning.
THERE WILL BE A REQUIRED ONE HOUR IN-PERSON CHECK PRESENTATION, TWO (2) REPORTING ZOOM CALLS, AND A GRANT SURVEY (from the Consortium) FOR ALL GRANT RECIPIENTS.
How to Apply
Application Requirements
- All applications must be submitted on time, be complete, and follow all directions.
- Official applications for the 2026 process will only be accepted using the online system.
- Anonymity is crucial to the fairness of the process. Mentioning names (school, student, mascot, school newspaper, personnel) in the body of your grant request or anywhere will result in application disqualification.
- Funds for the project should not be available through the regular school budget or District budgets.
Process
1. Register
Click on the "Register" button and complete and submit the registration form.
2. Login
Login to the award with your email and password.
3. Create
Create your online application.
4. Save
During the Call for Applications period, your application can be saved as DRAFT until all the required information is completed and attachments uploaded. As each section is complete, you will see a 
appear in the category tab when the application is saved. At any time, you can download and print your application by clicking on the 
icon in the Application Summary section.
5. Submit
On completion, save your Submission as FINAL. Download and print a copy of your application for your records by clicking on the icon in the Application Summary section in the right column. Note: If an update is required prior to the Grant deadline, you can make the update and resave as FINAL.
If you require assistance or additional information, please contact Stephene O'Malley, Program Manager.
Email: somalley@ecsdfl.us
Phone: 850.439.2669
Frequently Asked Questions for Grants for Excellence
What if my Principal does not approve my project or someone else is working on something similar?
Have a conversation and revise your grant or discuss collaboration with the other applicant.
When do we get our money?
Checks will be distributed at the Grants for Excellence Awards Ceremony October 5, 2026, 5pm, Hall Center, Room 160.
What if something costs less than what I budgeted? Can I use the money on something else related to my project?
Absolutely, as long as the expenditure is allowable in the Grants for Excellence program. Just be sure to include the item(s) in your budget report along with receipts. (We really want you to spend the money you are awarded!)
What if my final expenditure budget does not match the budget I included in my application?
No problem. Your application budget is your best guess on how you will spend the funds. In your final expenditure budget, show us how the funds were actually spent. We will look at proper use of funds as well as make sure you spent your total allocation over all your projects.
Can I pay myself or my project team members a stipend for our time?
This is discouraged and must be approved prior by your Principal. If you can specifically tie your time to the project, particularly outside of regular working hours, and can clearly document through your school bookkeeper/Secretary with proper documentation and time reporting, it is allowable. If approved, it should be a small portion of your budget.
Can my school apply for more than one grant?
Yes. Through the review process we do evaluate grade levels (elementary, middle and high) and locations to ensure fair distribution of funds. This is the secondary level of review, as we want to award impactful grants that are well written and demonstrate the best use of funds and effective measurement and reporting techniques. INNOVATION and CREATIVITY count!
If I have applied for a grant before and got funded, can I reapply for the same grant or ask for funds for the same project?
No, the Review Committee will be looking for new ideas, creativity, innovation and highly impactful (lots of students!) projects.
If I leave my school, during or after the project is implemented, can I take the supplies or equipment with me?
If you move to a school within the district at a similar level of students or subject area, you may take the materials with you to your new school. If you leave Escambia County Public Schools the supplies and materials are the property of the school where you worked when you received the funding.
Grants For Excellence Writing Tips
Grant applications that receive funding typically have these characteristics.
Project Description
- Explains the project clearly including how the money will be used and why it is important.
- Omits personal and/or school identifiers such as the school’s name, location or mascot.
- Describes the population being served including the number of students. Projects with a broader reach are generally more appealing as the return on investment (ROI) is higher. Aligns the project's goals and objectives with the School District's strategic plan.
- Identifies and accurately defines desired data-based project outcomes as a comparison to the baseline data.
- Clearly identifies what metrics you will use to measure baseline data and project outcomes.
- Pre-post test scores
- Specific standardized test scores
- GPA, attendance, behavioral records
- etc.
- Submits an itemized budget through the Grants for Excellence portal.
- Ensures the budget does not include:
- Items that should be available through regular school or District budgets.
- Decorative items, awards/incentives, food/beverages, entertainment, PDAs/cell phones, capital improvements, salaries, professional contracts and indirect office expenses.
- Ensures there are no grammatical, spelling or formatting errors in the application.
- Ensures each box and section of the application is complete.
- Reviews the budget to ensure all monies are accounted for and used appropriately.
Grant applications that do not receive funding often have these characteristics.
Project Description- Uses jargon and/or acronyms rather than writing in plain English.
- Fails to clearly and logically explain what will be done, why the project is important, and how the money will be spent.
- Violates the anonymity of the review process by including identifiers such as the school's name, location, or mascot.
- Takes an "everything but the kitchen sink" approach when selecting project goals, objectives and data collection strategies believing more is better.
- Fails to identify how baseline measurements will be taken thus making it impossible to know whether or not student performance improved because of the grant.
- Fails to have Principal/Supervisor review application prior to submission.
- Requests too much money for too few people.
- Divide the amount of money requested by the number of students being impacted.
- Ask yourself . . . Will the Foundation get enough "return on investment" if this project is funded?
- Triggers "red flags" when reviewers examine the budget.
- Budget does not match requested funding.
- Budget includes non-allowable expenses.
- Too much money is being spent on consumable supplies thus limiting the long-term impact of the funding.
- Falsely assumes a grant is more likely to be funded if less money is requested than the maximum allowed.
- Ask yourself . . . How much money is realistically needed? Ask for it!
- Procrastinates writing so there is inadequate time to review, clarify, and modify application.
- Submits application with grammatical, spelling and/or formatting errors that could annoy or distract the reviewers.
Key Dates
Contact Us
30 E Texar Drive
Pensacola, Florida 32503
Phone: 850 469 5354
Email: Foundation@ecsdfl.us
