2026-2027 Grant Awards.
Innovation Grants
Innovation Grants award up to $6,000 to support innovation and excellence across our district. Innovation Grants engage students in deeper learning, pilot new educational approaches and support educators to collaborate across disciplines, grade levels and schools.
Spinning Creativity: Secondary Schools Pottery Expansion
Educator(s): Susan Hamelin
School: Melrose High School, Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School
Description: Upgrading the high school’s 3D Art curriculum into a dedicated ceramics track, this grant adds new pottery wheels to eliminate equipment bottlenecks and allow high school artists to participate in whole-class wheel-throwing instruction and advanced pottery techniques. This initiative also enables middle school student access to safe, hands-on experience in wheel-throwing and 3D artistic expression.
The Discovery Hub: Modernizing Elementary Libraries
Educator(s): Mariellen Beaudoin, Olga Edmunds, Molly Brothers, and Katie Bilodeau
School: All elementary schools
Description: A collaborative redesign across elementary library media centers aligning physical spaces and digital literacy instruction with updated state computer science standards. Through professional book studies and curriculum mapping, the team is building modernized, inquiry-rich learning hubs.
Growing Connections: MHS Community Native Plants, Pollinator & Produce Garden
Educator(s): Shannon Kane, Betsy Giovanardi, Emily O'Neil
School: Melrose High School
Description: Expanding the MHS garden with accessible, elevated beds and native plant signage creates an outdoor living lab for botany, environmental science, and DLC classes. Students will partner with local senior facilities for volunteer assistance and donate harvested produce to local food relief organizations.
Lincoln Library Makerspace
Educator(s): Katie Bilodeau
School: Lincoln Elementary School
Description: The Lincoln Library Makerspace will establish a dynamic area within the school library that fosters creativity, problem-solving, and hands-on learning for students in grades K-5. The makerspace will include building materials, a 3D printer, and coding tools to support STEM learning and align with curriculum standards.
Sensory Speaks: Play-Based Speech Therapy Bins
Educator(s): Amy Cesar, Katelyn Jablon, Marissa Puccio
School: Roosevelt Elementary School
Description: Elementary speech-language pathologists will design thematic sensory bins to spark natural communication, vocabulary, and sentence expansion during therapy. The tactile bins engage diverse learners—especially those with complex communication needs—through interactive, play-based exploration.2025-2026 Grant Awards.
Boost Grants
Boost grants award up to $625 for individual educators to implement a new project, elevate an existing experience, or try something new in their classroom.
Imagination Station: Play-Based Literacy & Theatre Lab
Educator(s): Molly Brothers
School: Roosevelt Elementary School
Description: This project transforms a section of the Roosevelt library into an interactive, play-based literacy and theatre lab where elementary students engage in dramatic play, storytelling, and creative expression. By integrating theatre kits and open-ended materials into the curriculum, it boosts oral language skills, reading comprehension, and creative collaboration.
Hooked on Learning: Outdoor Fishing Experience
Educator(s): Steven Mirasolo, Paul Capaldo, Lauren Doherty, Kim Nardone
School: Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School
Description: Expanding on last year’s hugely popular outdoor unit, this grant supplies a full set of fishing equipment for middle school students to learn angling techniques at Ell Pond. It gives all students hands-on access to aquatic science, outdoor recreation, and environmental appreciation.
MHS Makerspace Reimagined: Tools for Student Designers
Educator(s): Christy Magoon, Betsy Giovanardi
School: Melrose High School
Description: Bringing together library, engineering, and science resources, this grant outfits the newly relocated MHS Makerspace with specialized tools and organized storage. It provides high schoolers with a fully equipped workspace for student-led engineering, prototyping, and STEM design projects.
Middle School Environmental Studies: Eco-House & Closed-Loop Farming Labs
Educator(s): Sarah McLaughlin
School: Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School
Description: Middle school environmental studies students will construct an interactive "Eco-House" using recycled structural materials and explore sustainable agriculture with a hands-on farming project. The curriculum emphasizes closed-loop ecosystems, resource efficiency, and sustainable tech.
In Perfect Pitch: Precision Tuners for Band
Educator(s): Benjamin Vermilyea
School: Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School & Melrose High School
Description: Outfitting the band room with a complete set of microphone-equipped instrument tuners gives music students immediate, real-time visual feedback on their pitch. This hands-on tool accelerates ear training and musical precision during everyday practice.
The Power of My Breath: Classroom Mindfulness & Yoga
Educator(s): Cindy Amirault
School: Hoover Elementary School
Description: Bringing certified yoga, breathwork, and meditation practices into the classroom, this grant provides yoga mats, storage, and wellness supplies. Students will learn research-backed mindfulness techniques to build focus, emotional regulation, and self-awareness.
Classroom Break Space Update: Early Childhood Regulation
Educator(s): Erin Dubovick
School: Franklin School
Description: Upgrading classroom "take-a-break" spaces at Franklin School, this grant provides "Calmee Caterpillars" and feelings mirrors for early learners. The tools give young children tactile and visual strategies to practice social-emotional regulation and self-soothing skills.
MHS-TV: Live In-Studio! Production Upgrades
Educator(s): Anthony DiBenedetto
School: Melrose High School
Description: Upgrading audio studio equipment enables MHS-TV broadcast interns to record, mix, and produce live musical performances featuring student talent. The project offers real-world broadcast production experience while spotlighting local student musicians.
FM Radio: The Commonwealth Experience Multimedia History Project
Educator(s): Jenna Duncan
School: Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School
Description: Connecting middle schoolers with Massachusetts history and civics, this Universal Design for Learning (UDL) project combines local media, pop culture, and research. It transforms standard history units into an interactive, multimedia learning experience for all learning styles.
Keystrokes to Creativity: Classroom Typewriter Restoration
Educator(s): Adam Azia
School: Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School
Description: Professional servicing for classroom typewriters gives students a screen-free, tactile medium for creative writing and mechanics exploration. The restored machines offer a unique, distraction-free tool that students love, in order to practice written composition.
Listening to the Heart: Hands-On Anatomy Lab
Educator(s): Jessica Forton, Kerri Scott
School: Melrose High School
Description: Equipping Anatomy and Physiology students with professional stethoscopes and blood pressure cuffs brings cardiovascular and respiratory lessons to life. Students will gain real clinical skills by listening to actual heart valves, lung airflow, and digestive sounds.
Lire en Français: Middle School Free Voluntary Reading Boost
Educator(s): Denise Wagstaff
School: Melrose Veterans Memorial Middle School, Melrose High School
Description: Expanding foreign language reading libraries across middle and high school French classrooms, this grant supplies engaging target-language books. It encourages voluntary, independent reading to boost vocabulary and language fluency.
Professional Development Grants
Professional Development Grants award up to $1,250 to educators to deepen knowledge in their field, develop new skills, or explore opportunities that will enhance teaching and learning in the classroom.
Structured Reading Success: K-1 Reading Literacy Launch
Educator(s): Kelly Smith, Mary Kate Isakson
School: Roosevelt Elementary School
Description: A Kindergarten and 1st-grade educator at Roosevelt will undergo intensive Orton-Gillingham structured literacy training to deliver explicit, multi-sensory reading instruction. This collaborative effort builds foundational phonics, vocabulary, and comprehension skills to support early readers and reduce dyslexia-related barriers.
Navigating the AI Era: Responsible Digital Literacy
Educator(s): Christy Magoon, Josh Cristiano
School: Melrose High School
Description: Through specialized professional development with the American Library Association and Library 2.0, the MHS librarian will gain expert tools to teach ethical AI use and digital research. The project equips educators to bridge emerging technologies with academic integrity and critical inquiry.
Harmonizing Excellence: Modern Vocal Pedagogy
Educator(s): Kristen McEntee, Kimberly Piper
School: Melrose High School
Description: This grant supports advanced training in contemporary choral methods and vocal health, benefiting singers from elementary through high school ensembles. Music educators will attend summer workshops in vocal pedagogy and Broadway music direction to master cutting-edge teaching strategies. These updated methods will directly elevate rehearsal techniques and performances for student vocalists across the district.
Harkness Math in Action: Inquiry-Based Learning
Educator(s): Scott Thornton
School: Melrose High School
Description: Funding attendance by a high school teacher at Phillips Exeter Academy's math conference, this allows a high school educator to refine Harkness discussion-based teaching strategies. The approach will promote student-led problem-solving and deep mathematical discourse in Algebra 1 and Geometry.
Empowering Every Voice: Selective Mutism Strategies
Educator(s): Erin Dubovick
School: Franklin School
Description: This grant funds specialized professional development to train school staff on practical, evidence-based strategies for supporting students with selective mutism. The initiative builds a supportive network across local schools to foster inclusive classroom environments.