2022-23 GRANT AWARDS
"Dispensing a Love of Reading" at Maple Street School
"Dispensing a Love of Reading " is an initiative at Maple Street School that utilizes a book vending machine to distribute high-quality literature to students. The students would earn tokens to get a book by demonstrating the core values of MSS: Be Respectful; Be responsible; Be safe; Be a community. A book vending machine achieves multiple positive initiatives for the Maple Street School Community. It will create an innovative way for students to have access to high-quality literature. Students will have the opportunity to choose books at their instructional reading level that have been recommended by their peers. Methods such as book vending machines can both increase access to literacy and change student perceptions of reading. With daily interaction in a school environment that values literacy, students learn that literacy is an integral and vital part of their lives. Grant award amount: $7,119.
District-Wide Composting and Cafeteria Waste Management Program
Staff and students at Harold Martin School and Hopkinton Middle High School will create a composting program with the use of a multi stream waste management unit, rotary composters, and “browns” receptacle compost units. At Maple Street School, staff and students will establish a multi-stream waste collection unit to support and further organize the existing composting and waste program there. This project will create tangible learning opportunities for students to understand and appreciate the value of reducing waste, turning waste into nutrient rich soil, participating in school and community wide environmental action, and a deeper sense of community. It is the hope of this group that the sorting practices learned at all Hopkinton schools will transfer home and start to make a difference on a larger scale within the community. Grant award amount: $9,991.
Hopkinton Middle High School Universal Design For Learning (UDL) Pilot
Hopkinton Middle High School is in the process of adopting a teaching model called the Universal Design for Learning (UDL). UDL-designed classrooms are meant to function for all students’ learning habits by removing barriers in the classroom. UDL rooms are meant to offer different environments for learning -- including flexible/adjustable seating, open spaces, areas for students to work quietly, and areas to efficiently collaborate with peers. This program is in its second year at HMHS, and the plan is to expand it on a yearly basis. For students who sometimes struggle in typical classrooms, these flexible environments are meant to give them an opportunity to fit their needs. Since the room is meant to offer collaborative, quiet, comfortable, and open spaces, students are given the chance to self-regulate, increasing their productivity and understanding in the classroom. Grant award amount: $8,500.
Harold Martin-Hopkinton High School "Friends Program"
The Hopkinton High School Counseling Staff wanted to bring back the Friends Program. The redesigned program pairs Hopkinton High School students with Harold Martin students for weekly meetings. The matched pairs structure their time to do what they most enjoy doing together. Mentoring programs, especially structured ones, improve student learning by focusing on skills like organization, coping skills, and growth mindset. By building a relationship over time, students develop trust with their mentors. This positive emotional connection can impact all facets of the student's life. Mentors also benefit from the skills like empathy and leadership that they learn and utilize in their partner relationships. Grant award amount: $1,500.
High School Cycling & Mountain Biking
Hopkinton High School Physical Education Department is always looking to expand the adventure education programs. Like many of the adventure based units, mountain biking helps reduce stress and anxiety while improving memory and cognitive function. From casual trail riding to off-road mountain biking, through this program students are given the opportunity to learn bike safety, bike maintenance, fitness, and cross curriculum opportunities. This type of exercise increases blood flow, and providing a fun and social activity. Cycling can help students to perform better academically and achieve success in all areas of life. Funds were used to purchase 6 mountain bikes, 6 helmets, basic maintenance tools, and initial basic maintenance of the bikes. Grant award amount: $4,620.
2021-22 GRANT AWARDS
Harold Martin School Library "Learning Commons": PHASE 2
Phase 2 of the HMS library renovation is to purchase mobile shelving so that all shelves not attached to the wall are mobile. This will allow for the greatest flexibility possible as all shelving can be moved at a moment’s notice to allow for the diverse and unique needs of students and staff. This second phase consists of replacing the nonfiction shelving that is currently situated next to the new mobile shelving (see image). When all the shelving is mobile, the library will be used more often as it will be able to be changed up quickly for multi-use purposes. Most school libraries today have mobile shelving so the room can be used for many school events and not just a space to read and check out books. Grant award amount: $9,935.
The old shelving that needs replacing to match the new mobile shelving previously purchased with HPSF grant money.
Middle/High School Library "Learning Commons": PHASE 2
Phase 2 of the "Learning Commons" project for the Middle/High School continues to improve the library space to better meet the needs of today’s students. Identified priorities from student and staff surveys are increased collaborative
and soft seating space with charging areas and flexibility with space configuration to allow for
various setups. Funding goes toward making all of the shelving in the middle of the space mobile (and matching) so that we can rearrange the entire space for classes and events as needed. Using Universal Design for Learning principles,
the space will allow for quiet, individual work as well as collaborative group work, class instruction, presentation, and exploration. Innovative design attends to all of these possible scenarios, and flexible furniture allows reconfiguration depending on the learning goals. Grant award amount: $8,970.
L: Some old shelving against the wall and new lighter colored mobile shelving. R: The new mobile, adaptable soft seating is highly sought after by the students.
SOAR Equine Therapy Program
SOAR is an 8-week long equine therapy program that meets once per week for 2-hour sessions. Over the course of the school year, four groups of 6 students will take the school's 14-passenger bus to Back in the Saddle Equine Therapy Center in Hopkinton to complete the SOAR program. It will be one day per week for 8 weeks during the school day.
Equine therapy has been shown to lead to fewer behavioral infractions, fewer absences from school, healthier friend interactions, better relationships with peers and teachers, better grades, and help students to learn about themselves and be able to trust others to talk about their trauma. The goal with this grant is to help alleviate some of our student's suffering during this pandemic, focusing on high-risk teenagers that are in danger of suicide, self-harm, and other threats caused by severe depression and anxiety. Grant award amount: $9,960.
Harold Martin School Outdoor Learning Space
Working with Hopkinton High School student Brooke Carlson (class of 2021), PreK Program Director Kenda Beckwith proposed enhancements to the outdoor space at Harold Martin School to create an outdoor learning environment and garden area for the preschool classes (and others) at Harold Martin School. The space will be built to provide opportunities for the children to explore and learn through hands-on activities, with an ADA compliant walkway winding through the garden space. Grant award amount: $10,995.
2020-21 GRANT AWARDS
iXL.com District-Wide License
The online learning platform iXL.com supports essential skill work in both math and literacy. In the 2020-21 school year, iXL.com was used across grade levels to provide differentiated practice to students in both the hybrid and remote learning models. The platform continues to be used across grade levels. Grant award amount: $7,858.​
Hopkinton School District Libraries "Learning Commons"
At all three of Hopkinton’s school buildings, the library is the hub of the school. They are used by students, faculty, and staff from the time the doors open in the morning until the time they are locked in the evening. While some basic renovations and improvements, such as new carpeting, have been covered by the district’s facilities project, the grants awarded by the Hopkinton Public Schools Foundation go above and beyond the school district’s budget to increase flexibility and further improve services for students, teachers, and staff. Funds were use to purchase a variety of seating, tables, and shelving to accommodate multiple size groupings, flexibility to reconfigure the space as needed, and to meet Universal Design for Learning principles. Grant award amount: $30,695. (HMS: $10,217.89, MSS: $10,382.96, HMHS: $10,094.93)
2019-20 GRANT AWARDS
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Freshwater Ecosystem Study: Purchased essential equipment to support the 7th grade’s Integrated Science curriculum, including waders, nets, dissolved oxygen meters, and more. This is an annual collaboration with New Hampshire Fish and Game and New England College. Grant award amount: $4,231.
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Schoolwide Composting Program: Purchased start-up equipment for school-wide composting at Maple Street School. The project is a collaboration between the Maple Street Green Club, the Hopkinton Middle High School Environmental Action Club, and the PTA. Grant award amount: $3,000.
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Accessible Algebra Through Technology: Purchase of graphing calculators and related accessories to make course content and technology accessible to all students taking Algebra 2 (a graduation requirement). Grant award amount: $4,189.
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Hopkinton Middle-High School Greenhouse Project: support for a new greenhouse at Hopkinton Middle High School, which will enhance science instruction and extracurricular programming; funds used to purchase a climate pod structure (such as the one pictured), which HMHS staff and students hope to construct in 2021. Grant award amount: $11,000.
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Cricut in the Classroom: support for purchase of a Cricut Machine, a tool that integrates with technology, mathematics, and art instruction and allows creation and production of unique, student-designed items. Grant funds were used to purchase a Cricut Machine, Easy Press, and related equipment. The grant recipient, Melanie Thornley, reported that “Within 20 minutes [of unboxing the machine], they had made a GEOMETRY sign for another teacher's classroom . . . students began designing decals for their own personal water bottles, calculators and binders. We also had students working on hallway decals for the 5th floor and thank you gifts for the Hopkinton Public Schools Foundation before we were unexpectedly thrown into remote instruction and were not allowed back into our school building.” If you attended the Hopkinton Middle High School Graduation or watched it online, you’ve seen this grant in action - the Cricut Maker was used to create the over 260 wonderful customized face masks worn by graduates and their parents and guests. Grant award amount: $1,250.