Environmental Science Resource Grants
Grants designed to enhance environmental science curriculum through hands-on learning, projects, supplies, and professional development.
Program Details
Any TK-12 grade teacher working at a low-income public school in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Solano, Sonoma, Santa Clara, San Francisco or San Mateo County is eligible to apply. Limit of five grants per school and one grant per teacher.
Low-Income Eligibility Guidelines:
All Title 1 schools are eligible for all grants within a given program. If your school does NOT have Title 1 status, the following percentages of students eligible for Free and Reduced-Price Lunch applies:
- 50% or more – Eligible for all grants within a given program
- 30% to 49% – Limited to 3 grants
- Under 30% – Staff will consider requests on a case by case basis
Grants of up to $1,000 are available for the school year and summer learning sessions to enhance environmental science curriculum through projects, supplies, the teacher’s own professional development and field trips.
To apply for funding towards a field trip, please make sure to describe how the trip would complement your Environmental Science curriculum. What will students learn and how will it integrate with your classroom instruction?
Examples of uses could include:
- Supplies for a summer gardening club
- Water testing kits
- Materials for a compost and/or recycling unit
- An online academic subscription
- A workshop or training session for teachers
Send your application in as soon as it is ready – money is limited. Funding will be immediately available, if approved.
It’s easy! Simply scan and email your application to slira@venturesfoundation.org with a description of your idea on school letterhead, including the following information:
- Date and Environmental Science Grant notation
- School and district name, address, and telephone number
- Your name, grade level, and email address
- Title 1 status and/or percentage of students eligible for Free and Reduced-Price Lunch
- Total amount requested
- Description of your project
- How many students will benefit
- Itemization of how the money will be spent relation to your Environmental Science curriculum. Please note that if you are requesting funds for bus transportation, you are required to include a quote from the bus company (or other documentation showing costs) with your application
- Application must be signed by the submitting teacher and the school principal
- Who the check should be made payable to (school, district or PTA only) and the address the check should be mailed to
For questions, please contact us at (510) 645-1890 or slira@venturesfoundation.org.
We will begin accepting applications for the 2025-2026 school year on September 15th.
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This program is made possible with funding from the Lampert Byrd Foundation, the Maxwell | Hanrahan Foundation, and PVF donors.
Help us keep this program thriving.
“These grants have been a vital resource for us here in the science department, as it is so expensive and difficult taking students out of the classroom. Our subject, biology, lends itself to going outside, yet so often we are confined to the walls of classrooms. We appreciate your conservation focus which was to provide support to outdoor field trips that teach students important environmental lessons.”
– Jessica Tiatia, 9-12th grade biology teacher