Charlotte N.C. (Jan. 29, 2018) — Social-emotional learning (SEL) company Aperture Education has launched a $20,000 micro-grant competition to help schools and out-of-school-time organizations get started in assessing students’ social and emotional competencies. Schools can apply online through Feb. 23, 2018. To apply, visit: http://info.apertureed.com/microgrant18.
Aperture will select four schools or organizations to receive micro-grants valued at up to $5,000 each. Each grant provides six months of access to Evo Social/Emotional, Aperture Education’s online SEL assessment and intervention system, as well as implementation training to help them get started.
“It can sometimes be difficult for staff to get back into the swing of things after winter break, but social and emotional learning is too important of a subject to wait until the start of next year,” said Marc Kirsch, Aperture Education’s Director of Sales and Business Development. “The data shows that understanding the SEL strengths and needs of students right now could make a big difference in discipline referrals, absenteeism, and end-of-year testing. We want to help schools and organizations finish the school year strong and set students up for success.”
To apply for the grant, applicants fill out an online form and describe the most pressing needs that they hope to address by implementing an SEL assessment and intervention system. They are also asked to share what they hope the outcomes will be and how they will use assessment data to continue to support social and emotional learning.
The micro-grant is part of Aperture Education’s ongoing support of educators, administrators and out-of-school-time providers in implementing social and emotional learning programs within their schools or programs. Aperture Education provides SEL assessments, interventions and resources for schools, parents and organizations. It also offers a scholarship program for high school and college students.
Micro-grant projects focus on providing benefits to a community. Aperture Education selected a micro-grant program rather than a traditional grant because it wants to encourage community-wide changes and sustainability around SEL.
“The competition encourages schools to have conversations around their most pressing SEL needs,” said Kirsch. “We hope they can use this process to bring in new partners and to build community support for advancing long-term social-emotional learning goals.”
About Aperture Education
Aperture Education is a social enterprise focused on addressing the whole child. Its social and emotional learning (SEL) solution, Evo Social/Emotional, is based on the Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA), a standardized, strengths-based measure of critical social and emotional skills. The Evo Social/Emotional online system includes both the DESSA and the DESSA-mini, a brief, universal screener of social and emotional competence. Evo Social/Emotional also provides intervention strategies and foundational practices to strengthen social and emotional skills. Its data helps SEL program administrators measure the impact of their programs and helps educators understand students’ SEL strengths and needs. For more information, go to www.ApertureEd.com.
