Proviso East High School has been awarded a $350,000 grant from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to help raise student achievement through implementation of the school's improvement plan.

"We have a strong commitment to our restructuring and improvement plan," said Proviso East Principal Milton Patch. "As we realized the district's financial situation, this grant created an opportunity of a lifetime by providing the funding necessary to make our improvement plan come to life. Everything in our school improvement plan has been proven and represents best practices in education. This funding will enable us to bring tools and resources into our school to make our kids more successful."

This competitive grant is being provided through the Title I, Part A, Section 1003(g) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (NCLB). To be considered, eligible schools had to demonstrate, through a proposal, that they have the greatest need and strongest commitment to implement research based strategies and practices that will improve student achievement and move the school out of improvement status.

Patch said, the school improvement plan was written in collaboration with West 40, RESPRO, staff members and department-heads at Proviso East, who all have a vested interest, and are wholly committed to students' success.

The grant will provide funds for improving classroom and building climate, one-on-one tutoring and academic counseling for students, after school tutoring, training for math teachers, summer school program expansion, a bridge program expansion for 8th graders, professional development courses for teachers, development courses for parents, and benchmarking software to monitor student progress.

"Our teachers need this and our students need it," said Proviso East Assistant Principal Dan Johnson. "This is a fantastic opportunity. When you don't have funding available it's difficult to fully implement any improvement plan. This award elevates our plan to a funded school improvement plan. So, we're excited about applying these funds and seeing results."