Beginning on November 9, 2023, Baltimore City Public Schools will award $300 toward the total cost (including shipping and fees) of each teacher-led project aimed at enhancing student success. DonorsChoose will also donate an additional $30 to each approved project for a total donation of $330 towards each teacher’s project. Approved projects will receive funding shortly after approval.
How to qualify:
- Create a teacher account at www.donorschoose.org/teachers if you don’t already have one. Then return to this page to follow the rest of these instructions.
- Sign into your account.
- Teach pre-K-12 in Baltimore City Public Schools, are employed full time by a City Schools school, and spend at least three-quarters of your time directly interacting with pre-K-12th grade City Schools students (including Library Media Specialists, Health/P.E. teachers, and Fine Arts teachers). Additional qualifications for eligible City School educators can be found below.
- Create a new project on or after November 9, 2023.
- On the “HI” page while creating your project, enter the campaign code BALTIMORE by clicking "Enter a campaign code."
- Request resources to help improve learning outcomes in one of the academic categories listed in the next section of instructions (e.g. literacy, math, STEM, health, SEL, fine arts, small group instruction, etc.).
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- Your total project cost, including the materials cost, applicable taxes and fees, and the suggested donation to DonorsChoose may be up to $600. To keep your total project goal at $600 you should request around $450 in materials; you will see the project’s total goal update as you progress.
- Projects totaling between $330 - $600 including fees, suggested donation, and resources will require further funding from additional donors.
- A project with a total project goal above $600 will not receive a donation from Baltimore City Public Schools.
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- In your project essay, make sure to describe how the resources you’re requesting promote learning outcomes in your selected qualifying category:
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- Learning/PreK: supplies, resources, materials etc. to support early learning classrooms
- Literacy: Resources to support development of foundational literacy skills, supplemental tools, programs, and materials
- Math: Resources and manipulatives to support development of foundational math skills, supplemental tools, programs, and materials
- STEM/Robotics: Materials or supplies to support the exploration of science, technology, engineering, or math, inclusive of robotics.
- Social Studies: Resource or materials that support students exploring and understanding diverse cultures, resources that support students in making connections to their culture through content
- Fine Arts: Resources and supplies to support exploratory music, art, theater/drama, dance
- PE/Health: Resources and supplies to support and enhance learning and activities in physical education and health.
- Small Group Instruction: Projects or resources to support implementation of small group instruction and promote engagement in small group learning
- Parent/teacher conferences or Student Learning Plan development with families and students: Resources that would support student and family engagement in parent/teacher conferences and Student Learning Plan development
- Community Projects or Civic Engagement: Projects designed to engage students with the surrounding community
- Clubs, Lunch Bunch, or Social groups: Resources and supplies for hosting a club or lunch bunch in the classroom – ways in which to support students in social groups or activities
- Social Emotional Learning: Resources to support student social emotional learning, wellbeing, mindfulness, restorative practices, etc.
- Classroom climate & Culture; classroom management: Supplies, materials, or resources to promote a positive classroom culture and environment
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What won’t qualify:
- Professional or Peer Development
- Teachers Pay Teachers gift cards
- Student incentives, rewards and awards (activities and/or materials)
- Any technology (e.g., computer technology, printers, laptops, smartboards, etc)
- Special requests and virtual trip and visitor projects are not eligible for this funding opportunity.
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- Special request projects are projects that request materials from outside of DonorsChoose’s vendor catalog. For this grant, you’ll need to shop from one of DonorsChoose’s 23 integrated vendors.
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- Any materials that are mandated requirements of student IEPs or the administration of the IEP Process
- Materials and/or licenses that are part of the core curriculum
- Office or custodial supplies
- Routine maintenance costs for school/classroom
- Field trips
- Core Curriculum or curriculum that would supplant the current core curriculum
How you’ll receive funding:
If your project meets the above criteria, your project will receive $330 ($300 from City Schools and $30 from DonorsChoose) toward the total cost of your project (including shipping and fees) as soon as it is reviewed by our team and posted on our site, while funds last.
With thanks to Baltimore City Public Schools
Baltimore City Public Schools is proud to support our teachers and bring funding directly into the classroom through this partnership with DonorsChoose. Your passion, creativity, and hard work have been instrumental in advancing student learning in the aftermath of Covid. With this partnership, we intend to give you additional support to continue that impactful work. We are confident that the projects you create will make a significant difference in the lives of your students and are proud to help fund them.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Baltimore City Public Schools educators who teach students in Pre-K – 12th grade are eligible for the program. For the purposes of this program, “Baltimore City Public Schools educator” is defined as any full-time equivalent public-school employee of the district who spends the majority of their time directly educating students and meets the additional qualifications outlined below. Only one DonorsChoose account per teacher is permitted.
- Are employed full time by a City Schools school.
- Spend at least three-quarters of their time directly interacting with PreK-12th grade City Schools students (including Library Media Specialists, Health/P.E. teachers, and Fine Arts teachers)
- Are in charge of creating their own lesson plans (or equivalent in a non-classroom role), and not primarily assisting another lead teacher.
- Are not in a primarily administrative role, e.g. Principal, coordinator, business officer, Dean
- Are not a parent (including PTA members) who does not meet the eligibility criteria above
- Are not an instructional aide or a school staff member that primarily assists other faculty members, e.g. teachers' assistant, paraprofessional, or student teacher
- Are not an athletic coach who does not meet the eligibility criteria above
- Are not a temporary substitute teacher, a part-time teacher, or an after-school teacher
- Are not in a supporting “school staff” role such as cafeteria worker, security guard, bus driver, etc.
- Do not work in an Early Head Start classroom
Educators can request classroom resources, including but not limited to supplies and instructional materials. The following resources are not eligible:
- Teachers Pay Teachers gift cards
- Student incentives, rewards and awards (activities and/or materials)
- Any technology (e.g., computer technology, printers, laptops, smartboards, etc)
- Special requests and virtual trip and visitor projects
- Any materials that are mandated requirements of student IEPs or the administration of the IEP Process
- Materials and/or licenses that are part of the core curriculum
- Office or custodial supplies
- Routine maintenance costs for school/classroom
- Field trips to amusement parks, movie theaters, sporting events, or any other activity that would be considered recreational or entertainment
- Professional or Peer Development materials
- Core Curriculum or curriculum that would supplant the current core curriculum
No. Funding through this partnership is intended to address the individual and specific need(s) of each educator and classroom. Educators must submit their own projects to participate in the program.
Each Baltimore City Public Schools educator can only have one project funded through this funding opportunity. However, educators are encouraged to post additional projects to DonorsChoose and benefit from our community of donors.
After your project has been fully funded and you’ve received all of your materials, you’ll be prompted to upload a short essay and some photos showing the impact your materials had in your classroom.
The following vendors have guaranteed free shipping:
- Best Buy Education
- CDW-G
- Grainger
- Lakeshore
- Time for Kids
- Ward’s
These vendors offer free shipping under certain circumstances:
- MahoganyBooks has free shipping on orders over $100
- Amazon Business has free shipping for most items, but not all items
If your project is approved on our site AND has not received any donations, you can make any edits you’d like by returning your project to a draft status. You can do this by heading over to the Projects section of your account and clicking on the "Return project to draft" button underneath your project title. Once your project is in draft status, you can make any edits and resubmit it. Then, it will be re-screened by our team and re-posted if eligible. Read more about editing your project.
With a total project goal under $330, your project will be fully funded by the City Schools donation and subsequent DonorsChoose donation. This equates to about $230 in materials. Below are some project examples.
- Example under $330 project: "Paper, Paper, Paper!"
- Example under $330 project 4: "Fueling Creativity and Curiosity with a STEAM Cart"
Example under $600 project: “Extra Extra Read All About It!” - $369.60 in materials. Total goal equals $546.21. If this project had no other donations, you will receive a $330 donation ($300 from Baltimore City Public Schools and $30 from DonorsChoose), and it would still require $216.21 in funding from additional donors.
Example under $600 project: “Relaxing Reading Corner”
Yes, the $330 donation includes those additional costs as they allow DonorsChoose to support these projects. These fees and the suggested donation cannot be removed from the City Schools one-time donation.