Charter School Grant Opportunities

Charter School Program (CSP) Grant (for Newly Authorized Charter Schools)

The Charter School Program grant is a federal grant awarded to the Tennessee Department of Education by the United States Department of Education (USED). One of the objectives of this five-year federal grant is to “increase the number of high-quality charter schools available to students across the United States”. In order to support this objective, the department is excited to offer both planning and implementation and replication subgrants under the CSP program. This grant competition is available to either (1) newly authorized Tennessee charter school operators for the purpose of designing, planning, and implementing their new schools; OR to (2) existing Tennessee charter school operators who have schools currently operating the state of Tennessee that have demonstrated academic, financial and operational success, and will be able to utilize these funds to replicate their successful school model to serve a greater number of educationally disadvantaged students. The department will hold CSP subgrant competitions at least once each year. Review the resources below for additional information.

• CSP Planning and Implementation / Replication Subgrant Application
• CSP Grant Budget Templates

Additional grant resources have been provided below including slides and a recording of a webinar the department hosted for CSP applicants.

• CSP Application Webinar recording
• CSP Application Webinar slides

The department has awarded 10 grants for the 2024 cohort. The following schools received $750,000 for planning and implementation of a new charter school or replication of a successful model:

• American Classical Academy Jackson-Madison
• American Classical Rutherford
• ChattAcademy Community School
• Empower Memphis Career and College Prep
• Invictus Nashville Charter School
• Knoxville Preparatory School
• Rutherford Collegiate Prep
• Springs Public Schools Tennessee-Empower Academy
• Tennessee Career Academy
• Tennessee Nature Academy

Other Available Grants

The U.S. Dept. of Education and national foundations supporting the growth of charter schools also offer grants directly to charter schools and networks. In Tennessee, charter school sponsors may be able to apply for several different grants, such as these:

• Replication grants from the U.S. Dept. of Ed., available to individual schools.
  
• Awards from the Tennessee Charter School Growth Fund.

Resources for CSP Grant Recipients

• CSP Recipient Guide
• CSP Grant Awardee Training