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Big Green School Garden Grant Opportunity Jumpstart Savannah

Jumpstart outdoor education and bring student-grown produce to your school with Big Green's school garden program.

Dig into Jumpstart

Jumpstart your school's garden

Our school-based program, Jumpstart, provides schools and other educational spaces with grants to kick off or reinvigorate their garden programs so that kids can grow food at school. Applications for Jumpstart Savannah's Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 cohorts are now closed. Keep the growing going in Savannah with our garden resources tailored to your city!

Who Can Apply

Schools interested in applying for this grant are expected to take on full ownership of the garden. Successful school gardens have strong administrative support, a team dedicated to leading and organizing school garden education, clear programmatic or curricular integrations, and a school-wide commitment to facilitate outdoor education for all students. In order to participate, schools have to meet the following criteria:

  • Serve students meeting 65% FRL or another metric of economic disadvantage.

  • Have a plan of action that ensures youth will consistently and strategically use the Learning Garden as a regular part of the school day.

  • Have the full support of the school administration and a multi-member team dedicated to the integration of the Learning Garden into the goals, structures, and overall culture of the school.

  • Be able to participate in all required professional development sessions. (2 sessions for Jumpstart grantees and 3 sessions for Learning Garden grantees)

hands in soil with strawberry plants.

Spring 2024 Cohort: Grant Calendar

  • August 1, 2023 Spring Cohort: Grant application opens
  • August 23, 2023 3:30pm Fall Cohort: Learning Garden Kickoff Webinar
  • September 23, 2023 Fall Cohort: In-person kickoff
  • September 23, 2023 ALL SCCPSS Teaching and Learning in the School Garden PD
  • October 13, 2023 Spring Cohort: Grant application closes
  • October, 2023 Spring Cohort: Grantees Announced
  • November 2023-March 2024 Spring Cohort PD Sessions
  • February-March, 2024 Spring Cohort: Garden kits delivered
  • May 31, 2024 Grant reporting due
a group of students holding up vegetables.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Yes, but only one $2000 grant will be awarded per school in the 2023-24 school year.

  • Yes, The Jumpstart Mini-Grant can be used by any school looking to increase school garden education for their students in this grant cycle.

  • A full list of everything that comes with a Learning Garden can be found at https://biggreen.org/resources/learning-garden-kit-material-list/

  • Yes, any school that meets the qualifications listed above on this page can apply for a Jumpstart Mini-Grant or Learning Garden Grant.

  • There are several options of federal/state programs that people frequently use to represent low income and other considerations that can be used to represent the socio-economic demographics of your school. Schools can also include percentages of students with Disabilities and/or English Language Learners to demonstrate needs.

  • No, The Jumpstart Mini-Grant requires schools to attend 2 PD sessions. One is a webinar in June to support the development and organization of a school garden leadership team and the second is an asynchronous course on our website called Jumpstart: Organizing the Outdoor Classroom.
    Schools receiving the Learning Garden Grant will be required to attend 3 PD sessions. The same School Garden Leadership Team webinar for all Jumpstart Grantees, an additional session on planning a garden Kickoff Event and the logistics of receiving and building your new Learning Garden, and an in person event to offer hands-on guidance to build the garden and introduce the curricular resources available to support student learning in the garden.