2025-2026 GRANT GUIDELINES AND REQUIREMENTS
The Collaborative SCFD K-12 Grant
The Collaborative SCFD K-12 Grant was created for a strong and engaged team of interdisciplinary teachers who are excited to connect cultural organizations to their classroom.
Our Full Member Level organizations invest a portion of their yearly SCFD Award (a sales and use tax) to provide curriculum-based arts, cultural, and scientific programs to K-12 public and charter schools within the 7- SCFD counties. Schools can choose from a variety of in-school workshops, assemblies, field trips, in-school exhibits, virtual programming, as well as professional development opportunities for teachers from our eligible organizations.
ELIGIBILITY
K-12 Public and Charter Schools
Located In:
Adams, Arapahoe, Broomfield, Boulder, Denver, Douglas* and Jefferson Counties.
- School must be in operation for 3 years or more before a team can apply.
- Past grant recipients must wait 4 years before applying again.
- * The cities of Castle Rock and Larkspur have opted-out of the SCFD tax district and are therefore ineligible.
APPLICATION OPENS:
Wed Feb 11, 2026
APPLICATION DEADLINE:
Wednesday, April 8, 2026 at 5:00 pm MST
SEMI FINALIST PHONE INTERVIEWS:
April 27/28 and May 7/8, 2026
FINALIST NOTIFICATIONS:
May 11, 2026
LENGTH OF AWARD:
One Year: Sept 2026-Aug 2027
GRANT AMOUNT:
Awards for programs vary between $2,000-$8,000. This is not a cash grant. The Collaborative’s Program Coordinator will be responsible for all budgeting and directly makes payments to eligible organizations. Amount and eligible organizations are subject to final Board approval in September of each year.
REQUIREMENTS:
This grant is designed to serve a cohort of up to a maximum of 180 students chosen from one or two grade levels. If your school is large, select one grade level. If your school is small or mid-size, you can include other grade levels as long as the cohort of students does not exceed 180 students. While the grant will focus on this cohort, there will be opportunities for other grade levels to participate in select programs as well.
- Team must be comprised of 3-5 teachers with a combination of disciplines representing: Science, Social Science, Language Arts, Visual Arts, Music, Theatre, Dance and/or another subject area. Instructional Coaches, Teacher Librarians and/or Social Emotional Learning Specialists are also welcome to join the team.
- Identify a Lead Teacher who will be the liaison between the team and The Collaborative Program Coordinator. The Lead Teacher will receive a small stipend to coordinate meetings and assist with general communications. The Lead Teacher is not responsible for booking all programs, unless the team has decided otherwise.
- Teachers on the team must attend four, 1-hour meetings through the year with a 2-hour Lunch or Breakfast Kick-Off Orientation Meeting in July/August. The majority of planning happens in Aug-Dec.
- Collaborative Program Coordinator will inform team of program possibilities and make introductions to organizations. Each teacher will follow through on finalizing program bookings of their choosing from the list of eligible organizations.
How Many Programs Can We Expect?
Depending on grant award, program choices and school size, a team can expect to receive about 10-15+ programs in the school year. It can be a combination of workshops, assemblies, performances, in-school exhibits, virtual learning, field trips or teacher professional development from a variety of eligible organizations. While the grant will be focused on the named grade level(s), there will be opportunities for other grade levels to participate as well.
Does The Grant Help Fund Buses or Substitute Teachers?
Yes! A portion of the grant award can be used toward reimbursing the school for up to $225 per bus, for up to three buses per field trip to an eligible organization. In addition, for those on the team up to $150 can be reimbursed for a substitute teacher. The school would be responsible for any minor overages. Bus budget will predetermined at the first planning meeting.
TESTIMONIES
The grant gave our students the opportunity to experience arts and cultural programs that couldn’t have been accessed in our typical curriculum. Through field trips, guest speaker assemblies, plays and concerts the grant has made a lasting impact on our students.
Our participation in the grant program has been essential in keeping our students connected to Arts, Culture and Science in the most trying of times.
The grant gave my teaching a new sense of energy and excitement -a chance to work collaboratively with my peers in authentic experiences for our kiddos.
Get In Touch
email: info@CollaborativeSCFD.org
phone: (303) 946 2089
address: PO Box 102995 Denver, CO 80250 USA