What We Do / Grants
NBEF was created in 2010 with the generosity of locally-educated Dr. Irwin Jacobs and his wife, Mrs. Joan Jacobs, who together committed resources to expand learning opportunities for New Bedford Public School students.
NBEF grant funds provide financial support to Educators, the New Bedford School District and regional non-profit organizations that create exceptional and transforming educational opportunities for New Bedford Public School students.
NBEF offers Grant Programs that are detailed below. All grant funding awarded through the Foundation must benefit students in New Bedford Public Schools and must align with the Mission of the New Bedford Education Foundation of furthering educational opportunities in the areas of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and/or the disciplines of Arts and World Languages. Eligibility requirements vary from program to program. The Grants & Distributions Committee of the Foundation conducts a comprehensive review process of all submissions.
Grant Criteria
NBEF Grants are intended to help fund proposals which show promise of meeting one or more of the following four purposes, for which the foundation was established:
1. To facilitate and support improvements and initiatives in the arts at New Bedford Public Schools;
2. To facilitate and support improvements and initiatives in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) at New Bedford Public Schools;
3. To facilitate and support improvements and initiatives in “world languages” at New Bedford Public Schools;
4. To support programs/purchases aimed at improving New Bedford Public Schools in terms of the quality of the educational experience offered to their students.
Note: Applicants for NBEF grants must clearly demonstrate the specific way(s) in which a proposed project or undertaking is expected to meet one or more of the four criteria identified above.
NBEF Grants
Summer Grant Program
New Bedford Education Foundation summer grants provide funding to 501(c) (3) organizations that work with New Bedford Public school children. These summer grants provide hands-on and real-world learning opportunities during the summer months that expand learning into the community and beyond.
Educator Mini-Grant Program
New Bedford Education Foundation awards grants directly to educators to augment and enhance both classroom and after-school programming that expands learning opportunities in STEAM, THE ARTS and/or WORLD LANGUAGES. These grants are awarded directly to the educators and intended to provide...
Other Grants
Opportunity Grant Program
The New Bedford Education Foundation considers unique applications that have a broad reach and in depth scope and that are consistent with the Foundation’s Mission and goals of furthering educational opportunities for New Bedford Public School students. These grants are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Public School Grant Program
The Chief Academic Officer will identify a school that would benefit greatly from supplemental programming. Based on their School Improvement Plan, the school identifies specific areas that need to be developed in order to increase student learning and achievement. A proposal will be created for providing supplemental programming that connects directly to these targeted areas with the intention of utilizing project based learning rather than stand and deliver instruction. Schools will use their beginning of year, middle of year and end of year benchmark data, as well as the results of regular student progress monitoring, to ensure that the supplemental programming is impactful.