Several Northwest New Jersey schools to receive grants to help improve climate change instruction in the classroom
NEW JERSEY – The New Jersey Department of Education Wednesday announced awards for two grant opportunities to help schools implement, improve, and expand climate-change instruction in the classroom.
The grants will approach climate-change instruction through two avenues:
- An interdisciplinary learning and community projects grant will provide funds directly to school districts to help them partner with local organizations or their municipality to establish Interdisciplinary Learning Units and Community Resilience Projects. These projects will help schools impact their community through projects such as planting rain gardens with plants that will ease flooding; growing food using aquaponics to combat food insecurity; restoring native plant species; and planting dune grass to restore and protect native habitats.
- The Climate Change Learning Collaboratives grant will fund programs in which colleges and universities will create Climate Change Learning Collaboratives to provide training to teachers on how to infuse climate change into the curriculum.
The grant programs, funded through Governor Phil Murphy’s Fiscal Year 2024 budget, are part of an overarching effort spearheaded by First Lady Tammy Murphy to effectively incorporate climate-change instruction into classroom instruction.
When the New Jersey Student Learning Standards (NJSLS) were updated in 2020, New Jersey became the first state in the nation to integrate the teaching of climate change across multiple content areas, ranging from science and social studies to world languages and the arts.
“Our nation-leading climate change education standards are setting New Jersey students up for a successful future as climate literate leaders of tomorrow,” said First Lady Tammy Murphy. “These grants will ensure our state’s climate change instruction remains at the highest academic standard and that our educators are supported as they prepare new and innovative lessons. I am eager to see the creative approach each school will take to continue the successful rollout of this critical instruction across all learning standards.”
“It has become evident that climate change is an issue of such significance that it touches the lives of everyone and, in turn, our learning standards reflect the importance of ensuring students receive accurate, relevant instruction on this topic,” said Acting Education Commissioner Kevin Dehmer. “Building climate literacy today will help to prepare students to participate fully in our future workforce. These grants will help schools meet the challenge of infusing climate change across multiple subjects while making the content relevant and important to students.”
Climate Change Learning Collaboratives: Colleges and Universities
The Expanding Access to Climate Change Education and the New Jersey Student Learning Standards through Climate Change Learning Collaboratives funding will establish regional Climate Change Learning Collaboratives (CCLCs) at four New Jersey colleges and universities. The CCLCs will provide training, technical assistance, and experiential learning opportunities to support local educators in implementing climate change education initiatives in the classroom and their local community. The CCLCs will also increase the number of K-12 educators who are prepared to teach high quality, standards-aligned climate change education.
The four institutions of higher education that have been selected to receive funding through the grants are: Region Recipient Award:
- Northern Region Ramapo College of New Jersey $650,000
- Central Region Rutgers University-New Brunswick $324,699
- Central Region Monmouth University $311,276
- Southern Region Stockton University $650,000
Interdisciplinary Learning and Community Projects: School Districts
The Expanding Access to Climate Change Education and the New Jersey Student Learning Standards through Interdisciplinary Learning and Community Resilience Projects grant funding will allow school districts to partner with local organizations or municipalities to implement a student-led community project at one or more of their schools to further their standards-based climate change education initiatives.
These activities are designed to foster a greater understanding of local climate challenges and engage students and school staff in thoughtful action to develop and implement solutions that align with their community’s needs. Projects from this grant cycle will serve as model projects for other school districts and charter schools across the state, and their outcomes will be shared at Climate Change Learning Collaborative events throughout spring 2025.
School districts were invited to apply for awards up to $31,875.
The 34 districts that have been identified to receive funding through the Expanding Access to Climate Change Education and the New Jersey Student Learning Standards through Interdisciplinary Learning and Community Resilience Projects and initial award amounts are:
- Atlantic: Atlantic City Community Charter School $31,875
- Atlantic: Egg Harbor Township $29,431
- Atlantic: Hamilton Township $31,875
- Bergen: Leonia $31,875
- Bergen: Pascack Valley Regional High School District $31,609
- Bergen: Ridgewood Village $31,875
- Burlington: Burlington City $31,875
- Camden: Cherry Hill Township $31,875
- Cape May: Cape May County Vocational School District $31,875
- Cape May: Dennis Township $28,770
- Cape May: Lower Cape May Regional $31,875
- Cape May: Upper Township $31,875
- Cape May: Wildwood City $31,875
- Cumberland: Compass Academy Charter School $31,550
- Cumberland: Cumberland Regional District $31,875
- Essex: Bloomfield Township $31,875
- Essex: Nutley $31,863
- Gloucester: Logan Township $31,868
- Hudson: Hoboken $31,733
- Hudson: Secaucus $31,875
- Mercer: Princeton $31,875
- Middlesex: Dunellen $31,825
- Middlesex: Sayreville $31,875
- Monmouth: Hazlet Township $31,875
- Monmouth: Keyport $31,875
- Morris: Mount Olive Township $31,719
- Morris: Unity Charter School $22,960
- Ocean: Pinelands Regional $31,875
- Ocean: Point Pleasant Borough $31,875
- Passaic: Paterson Charter School for Science & Technology $31,875
- Passaic: Ringwood $31,163
- Somerset: Somerville Borough $26,935
- Sussex: Stillwater Township $27,648
- Union: Morris-Union Jointure Commission $31,875
The Department is currently working to redistribute remaining funds to these awardees.
The Climate Change Learning Collaborative grant with colleges and universities runs until March 31, 2025 and the Interdisciplinary Learning and Community Resilience Projects grant program runs through May 31, 2025.
