Bellevue Public Schools received a $1.25 million grant from the Department of Defense Education Activity. This grant will go into effect in 2019 and impact Belleaire, Bellevue, Fairview, Fort Crook, Lemay, Leonard Lawrence, Peter Sarpy, Two Springs, and Wake Robin Elementary schools.

According to an email sent out to teachers from Superintendent Jeff Rippe, the goal of the grant is to improve science and math performance. There will a bigger push to integrate STEM into after school and summer school programs. Schools will receive funds to purchase robotic kits and math intervention software and will be given access to  Discovery STEM Connect and Discovery Streaming Plus resources. The district will also be required to hire a half-time project coordinator to direct the program.

Rippe said in an email that he hopes to receive more DoDEA grants to improve middle and high schools.

“We felt it was a good time to apply as the focus was on STEM Education,” Rippe said.  “We had already received the NMSI grant that addressed STEM Education at the high school level and felt this would be a good fit to address STEM Education at the elementary level.”

Other grants such as Project STEM and National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) will support BPS with $4.05 million for the next few years.