Initiatives for Excellence is the major grant program within the Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation. The Initiatives for Excellence committee, composed of Educational Foundation board members and qualified community members, reviews and researches grant applications from the District Superintendent and makes recommendations to the Educational Foundation Board for funding.  The guiding principle of Initiatives for Excellence is, "All Students, All Schools". 

The committee works in conjunction with the Ann Arbor Public Schools to assure that major grants are in coordination with the district strategic plan.  The committee also provides ongoing oversight of funded grants to assure the success of the programs and responsible stewardship of the awarded funds.

Initiatives for Excellence grants for the 2009-2010 school year.

My Access!:The AAPSEF is excited to continue funding for the My Access! program. My Access! is an award winning, web based writing literacy program that builds better writers by instantly scoring student essays and by providing immediate instruction that engages and motivates students. This year, students in grades 5 – 10 will use My Access!   Impact reports on results of My Access! usage in the Ann Arbor Public Schools have been very positive and confirm the programs success with ESL students, students who struggle with writing, and those that are achieving at a higher level.  View a video made by AAPS teachers by clicking the link on the right.  To learn more about My Access!, click here. 

Enrichment Coordinators:  This grant awarded for elementary school enrichment coordinators will provide funding to secure the staffing infrastructure necessary for development and implementation of enrichment programming across all elementary schools. The new district-wide initiative is modeled after the successful Angell Elementary enrichment program.  Look for updates on their progress in our e-newsletters.  To learn more about the Elementary Enrichment Framework, click here.

To view the 2009-2010 year end report, click here.

ACT’s EXPLORE and PLAN Assessments:  In 2006 Governor Granholm signed into law, new graduation requirements called the Michigan Merit Curriculum.  As part of this new law, the Michigan Merit Exam (MME) now includes an ACT component; and the MME is now a graduation requirement for Ann Arbor Students. The ACT’s Educational Planning and Assessment System is an integrated series of assessment and career planning programs designed to help students increase their academic readiness for college. The following are benefits from using ACT’s system:  increased educational achievement; students take more college preparatory courses in high school; increases students’ college readiness; promotes educational and career planning; promotes college readiness of underrepresented minority students; and, promotes educational achievement in college, college enrollments, and retention in college.  The EXPLORE assessment will be administered to all eighth graders and the PLAN assessment will be administered to all tenth graders.   Guidance counselors will coordinate parent meetings to assist in interpretation of results.

Supported last year, but not funded by Initiatives for Excellence this year, is the COMP Tutor Program.  The Educational Foundation supports the purpose and outcomes of the program, but because it does not fully meet the "all students all schools " criteria of this program, we have established a donor directed fund.  Donors may direct their gifts to this fund via our web-site.

COMP Tutor Program:  The Cooperative Outreach Music Program (COMP) provides music tutors to talented, low-income, middle school students who cannot afford private instruction on their instrument.  The program provides one, thirty minute, tutor assisted lesson weekly for students currently enrolled in our schools band and orchestra classes, in grades 6 – 8. Click here to lend your support to the COMP Tutor Program. 

100% of every gift stays in Ann Arbor. Every gift makes a difference.

AAPSEF is an independent 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization.
©2008 Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation

My Access Teacher Video
> click to view

ACT PLAN and EXPLORE Assessments

> click to view