Educators Rising Connecticut
2026-2028 Foundation Grants

Introduction

Whether your district or school is launching a Pre-Educator Pathway Program, starting an Educators Rising chapter or you are expanding your existing program, we’re excited to share that grants are now available for the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 school years. In partnership with the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE), Educators Rising provides you with programming that supports your students as they explore the teaching profession through a curriculum, student competitions and conferences, leadership and scholarship opportunities, and membership resources and activities. Educators Rising is a community-based model, in which chapters at schools feed teacher preparation programs at institutes of higher education with the support of State Departments of Education and local funders and foundations. These entities come together to provide a clear pathway to address teacher shortage and educators reflect the communities they serve. As a Career & Technical Education program, Educators Rising supports Connecticut’s building of a 6 to 16 pathway for future educators.

Through a Connecticut-based private foundation, we are able to offer grants to schools to subsidize the costs of implementing the Educators Rising program, with initial program costs to participate resulting in $4,000 to implement the Educators Rising program through the Educators Rising Curriculum and Membership resources in the 2026-2027 and 2027-2028 school years.

Complete the Educators Rising Connecticut Foundation Grant application by end of day on Friday, July 31 to take part.  Decisions on all applications will be made on a rolling basis starting July 17, 2026. 

Grant Program Participation Criteria

• 60 school sites will be selected on a first-come, first-served basis – Applications close July 31!
• Open to both middle and high school
• Each site will be responsible for $4,000 after grant subsidy
• Sites with any outstanding balances will not be considered.
• 100% of students in the class must register as National Educators Rising members.
• Once accepted, an MOU and contract must be signed and returned by August 31

Educators Rising Program Costs

After the first twenty students, any additional students will be invoiced at:

• $15/student for National student membership per site, and
• $25/student for Educators Rising CT State Membership dues

*Please note: We cannot guarantee this pricing in future years. We strongly recommend including the full cost of the Educators Rising curriculum in future budget planning. 

What Is Included

• Full access to Educators Rising Curriculum (1-, 3-, or 5-day formats) 
• Access for two approved curriculum users per site 
• Curriculum Map, Scope & Sequence 
• Student-guided and teacher notes in every lesson 
• Interactive Student Guidebook 
• Project-based assessments 
• Special Education-focused modules 
• Clinical experience guidance 
• Assessment Access (short and selected response) 
• 20 paid national student membership fees 
• Orientation & Introductory Curriculum Training 
• Teacher Leader Portal Resources 
• Teaching Channel videos 
• National Board Videos 
• Membership and Competitive Event support 
• 1-on-1 appointments and monthly PLCs and programmatic curriculum trainings

Key Dates

• Week of June 15^th – Applications open
• Friday, July 17 – First MOUs and Contracts sent out
  • Continue to send out MOUs and Contracts on a rolling basis
• July 31 – Applications close
• Monday, August 31 – MOUs and Contracts due (payment due within 60 days)

If you have any questions, please email Connecticut State Coordinator Jason Foster (email)
or Connecticut Curriculum Coordinator, Kim Celotto (email).