Outschool.org Community Partner Grant Program 

Applications are now closed for the 2023-2024 cohort

Are you an innovative microschool, homeschooling co-op, community-based organization, or K-12 district or charter school looking to provide high-quality, enriching, and learner-led education? 

Outschool.org is looking for at least eight organizations (“community partners”) aiming to close academic achievement and/or enrichment gaps for BIPOC and economically marginalized learners for our third cohort of community partners, sponsored by Walton Family Foundation. We co-design programs with community organizations and offer funding for program support, education design expertise, family navigation tools and programming, training, and access to technology resources.

Timeline

  • Final Deadline: August 1

  • Semi-Final Round Announced: August 20 (Applicants will be notified via email)

  • Semi-Finalist Interviews Begin: August 21

  • Semi-Finalist Interviews End: September 8

  • Final Cohort Decision Announced: Early October

What Will Community Partners Receive?

Training & Support Valued at More Than $85,000

Throughout over the course of 1-2 years, Outschool.org will provide all community partners with support in educational programming co-design, marketing, family training and community building, and organizational stability and growth.

One $10,000 Grant to Support Program Implementation

All community partners will receive funding to pay caregivers to navigate educational options, or use towards stipends or salaries required for on-the-ground program support. For partner organizations that do not have direct-to-family public funds, Outschool.org will also provide $500/learner.

Free and Discounted Resources

Community partners will gain access to free and discounted resources, including but not limited to Outschool classes. Other high-quality content providers grantees can access include Reconstruction, CommonLit, Zearn, and Newsela.

What’s It Like to Partner with Outschool.org?

Bernita Bradley

Engaged Detroit

Detroit, Michigan

Amber Johnston

Heritage Homeschoolers

Cobb County, Georgia

Applications are now closed.

Who Should Apply?

Outschool.org is seeking a diverse portfolio of community partners. Starting this year, we are particularly interested in helping families, programs, and organizations maximize direct-to-family education funding programs such as Education Scholarship Accounts (ESAs), microgrants, and tax credits programs. Our belief is that public direct-to-family funds have the opportunity to help to close the out-of-school learning participation gap for racially and economically marginalized students.

We are looking for about 5 out of 8 selected community partners to have the capacity for co-investment. We are actively seeking community partners with access to public funding (e.g. ESAs, microgrants, ESSER, Title I, and Title II funds) or funding from private sources to support programming. For the remaining 3 out of 8 partners without public funding, we have budgeted $500 per learner, up to 350 learners.

Most importantly, we are looking for partner organizations that are passionate, collaborative, and innovative. We want to work with people who not only understand the pressing need for educational equity, but also possess the drive to act, so we can collectively work towards creating a profound and lasting impact on learners and families across the U.S.

If selected, you will be expected to:

  • Work alongside Outschool.org to co-design a program designed to meet the individual academic and enrichment needs of learners while accommodating their interests.

  • Meet weekly with Outschool.org program manager and coordinate 2-3 site visits throughout the partnership. 

  • Commit a designated point of contact to oversee the partnership (Approximately 5 hours/week to implement programming – There may be more intensive times when commitment is greater).

  • Support program implementation, monitoring, and evaluation, including administering pre-post surveys to learners and/or families and collecting and sharing pre-post academic achievement data.

  • Participate in thought leadership efforts, such as distributing media release forms to families (who have the option of opting-out) and working with Outschool.org on content creation as mutually agreed upon (e.g. blog posts, case studies, and news stories). 

  • Provide access to high-quality learning experiences and collect learner and family feedback on experiences. 

  • Develop a program budget with Outschool.org that leverages public funds and/or Outschool.org support to maximize outcomes.

You should apply if you:

  • Are a homeschooling co-op, microschool, community-based organization, K-12 district public or charter school.

  • Have a bold, clear, and explicit vision to meet learners’ academic and enrichment needs and interests that is learner/family/community-centered.

  • Have the ability to reach at least 40 learners in grades Pre-K-12 by September 2023, of which at least 75% of which are BIPOC and economically marginalized.

  • Have access to technology devices and stable wifi to enable hybrid learning.

  • Can show a history of community-centered work

  • Have strong and stable leadership

  • Are located in diverse regions across the country, including rural areas, with preference given to the following ESA, microgrant, and tax credit program states: Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.

  • Have the capacity to track inputs and outcomes (e.g. attendance, use of funds), and administer surveys and assessments for learners ages 8-18.

    • For more established organizations, demonstrate a track record of implementing new programs and experiments using data and evaluation to inform decision making. 

    • For new organizations, a desire to develop measurement frameworks that speak to the impact of your work.

  • Desire to leverage hybrid learning to offer high-quality online resources to fill gaps in local access and to provide exceptional in-person opportunities in your programming – This could include tutoring, private Outschool classes, and/or Outbridge (See “What Does an Outschool.org Partnership Look Like?” below to learn more).

What Does an Outschool.org Partnership Look Like?

Outschool.org relies on community partners to reach families and learners. To date, we have partnered with more than 25 community organizations and served more than 32,000 learners through our Community Partner Grant Program, Outbridge Program, and Family Financial Assistance Program, which launched in March 2020 and closed in August 2022. 

We require all partners to leverage one or both of Outschool.org’s program models: Outbridge and Class Connect. Our two current program models incorporate learnings from our work to date, and our community partners can choose to implement one or both of these program models ->

  • Outbridge provides families with access to financial resources either through public direct-to-family funding programs or provided by Outschool.org. Outbridge pairs financial access with the navigation support to save families time and help them find local and virtual educational classes tailored to their child(ren)’s interests and needs. Outbridge is designed to increase the power and agency of families of color and build the capacity of the community organizations who serve them.

  • Class Connect provides community partners with supplemental and enrichment courses they could not otherwise offer. Outschool.org vets and selects educators from the Outschool marketplace who teach private classes tailored to partner needs, increasing the teaching capacity of organizations and their ability to offer a variety of classes on specialized topics, taught by qualified educators who share a cultural identity with their learners. For example, Outschool.org community partners have offered learners hybrid high-dosage tutoring, coding, and African Diaspora classes.

That being said, there is no single playbook and partnership comes in many forms. Check out some of the potential ways that your organization could bring Outbridge and Class Connect to your communities, and hear what our 2022-2023 partners had to say about their partnership experience with Outschool.org.

Learn More

Read Our FAQs

Not sure whether you are eligible for the community partner grant? Want to learn more about the application timeline and process? Read our responses to the most commonly asked questions below.

Contact Us

For questions that are not addressed on this page or in our FAQs document, please contact Outschool.org’s Director of Impact and Development, Ipek Bakir.