Funding Includes Financial Aid, Outreach Programs

Contact: Vance Lancaster, Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Marketing and Communications, 703-723-8000 x215, vlancaster@jackkentcookefoundation.org

LANSDOWNE, Va., June 18 /Standard Newswire/ -- Many students demonstrate excellent academic potential despite challenges such as dyslexia and other diagnosed learning disabilities. These "twice-exceptional" students benefit from specialized education that can help them further excel in their studies. However, financial circumstances present yet another obstacle to many of these students.

To help them overcome this roadblock, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation recently approved a $1.5 million grant initiative supporting four private schools that have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to addressing the needs of twice-exceptional students.

"These students have educational needs that are not addressed by standard curricula," said Matthew Quinn, executive director of the Foundation. "Our goal is to help them receive the specialized attention they need to fulfill their academic potential."

The grants provide up to $400,000 to each school over four years to benefit low-to-moderate income, high-potential students in one or more of the following ways:

• Financial aid to attend the school full-time

• Outreach programs to provide tutoring

• Teacher training services in low-income communities

The Foundation awarded grants to the following four schools from among 13 applicants:

• ASSETS School (Honolulu, HI). ASSETS School specializes in serving children and young people from five to 18 years of age whose capability is greater then their achievement and those who are in need of acceleration and enrichment. Funds will be used to provide the equivalent of 17 full-tuition scholarships during the four-year grant period and will support the development of a marketing and recruitment plan to help the school locate and attract lower-income, twice-exceptional students. Grant: $400,000 over four years.

• Chartwell School (Seaside, CA). Founded in 1983, Chartwell School specializes in addressing literacy issues with a wide range of visual and auditory challenges in a way that provides students with the learning skills and self-esteem necessary to return successfully to mainstream education. Grant funding will provide the equivalent of eight full-tuition scholarships during the four-year grant period and up to five full-tuition scholarships for new twice-exceptional students to attend Chartwell's Summer School program. The grant also will support tutoring services for an additional 20-30 low-income students and fully fund intensive training for one teacher from a low-income public school at Chartwell's Teacher Training Institute. Grant: $397,150 over four years.

• Jemicy School (Baltimore, MD). Specializing in dyslexia and other language-based learning differences, Jemicy School uses a multi-sensory curriculum to help students achieve their full potential. Funds will provide the equivalent of 10 full-tuition scholarships during the four-year grant period, including recruitment of scholarship candidates and one year of free tutoring for candidates who are not accepted to attend Jemicy full-time. The grant also will support the expansion of Jemicy's outreach and teacher training program, enabling additional teachers in low-income Baltimore schools to receive training from Jemicy staff. Grant: $367,000 over four years.

• Lawrence School in Broadview Heights (Cleveland, OH). Lawrence School specializes in the unique needs of bright students with learning and attention differences, using the cumulative power of sight, hearing, touch and body movement as aids to learning. The grant will fund the equivalent of 18 full-tuition scholarships covering 90 percent of tuition during the four-year grant period. Lawrence will identify two Cleveland students to receive full scholarships. Grant: $400,000 over four years.

The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is a private, independent foundation established in 2000 by the estate of Jack Kent Cooke to help young people of exceptional promise reach their full potential through education. It focuses in particular on students with financial need. The Foundation's programs include scholarships to undergraduate, graduate, and high-school students and grants to organizations that serve high-achieving students with financial need. http://www.jackkentcookefoundation.org