Program & Grants
Education
Increasing the academic achievement of low-income students in historically disinvested Chicago public schools
The Fry Foundation's Education program has been a cornerstone of our grantmaking since our inception.
What we fund
Our funding focuses on:
Principal Development: We support programs that develop and empower Chicago Public Schools (CPS) principals to provide leadership that strengthens teacher instructional practices and improves student academic outcomes. Our focus includes programs that help principals apply research-based instructional strategies, establish and sustain systems for effective teacher collaboration, and partner with CPS to design and implement policies and programs that enhance the development and retention of strong, effective principals.
Teacher Leadership and Professional Learning: We support programs that enhance teacher professional learning to implement effective instructional practices. Our current priority is programs that develop teacher leaders within schools who collaborate with their peers to advance research based instructional improvements. We prioritize programs that support teacher leadership work that is closely aligned with the school's overall improvement goals, improve teacher leaders' capacity to facilitate school-based professional learning and collaboration, build content and pedagogical knowledge, and use data-driven approaches to improve instruction.
Academic Enrichment for Students: We support rigorous academic enrichment programs aimed at building students’ skills in reading, writing, math, and research. These programs should have a clearly articulated curriculum, should be led by experienced educators and monitor student academic growth to ensure continuous improvement.
Within these priority areas, we look for programs that have:
Have clear and measurable connections to academic achievement
Demonstrate strong evidence of improved academic achievement and instructional quality as a result of their work and actively use collected data to improve program effectiveness.
Use data to regularly engage in program continuous improvement efforts.
Prioritize working with middle and high schools that have high percentages of students of color in historically disinvested areas.
Have a strong track record of working with Chicago Public Schools.
The Fry Foundation encouraged us to be formalized, rigorous, and clear as we honed a set of metrics for what it means to be successful, while also understanding we needed flexibility because different schools have different problems. As the initial funder of Change Agent, the Fry Foundation took a chance on us and since then has deepened its commitment.”
—Josh Kaufmann, Senior Executive Director, Teach Plus
What we do not fund
While the Fry Foundation is committed to enhancing education outcomes, there are certain areas we generally do not support:
Scholarship programs: We do not fund individual scholarships.
Unsolicited proposals from individual schools: Proposals must align with our broader focus areas and come through invited partnerships.
Programs serving students outside of Chicago: Programs must benefit students who reside within Chicago.