Professional Development Grant
Transformative impacts often result from staff members who choose to attend professional development programs. Typically, these opportunities are funded through the town’s annual school budget. However, the district may not be financially able to meet each request. Through the Professional Development Grant program, the Wallingford Education Foundation (WEF) provides additional funding for employees of Wallingford Public Schools to attend conferences hosted outside the district.
The Professional Grant program offers paired grants of $1,000 each for two Wallingford Public Schools staff members to attend the same professional development opportunity together OR single grants of up to $2,000 for an individual to attend a conference alone. Multiple grants are awarded yearly.
Grant recipients for the 2025 – 2026 school year:
Sarah Babineau and Alise Knickerbocker (Lyman Hall High School) will be attending the Orton-Gillingham Academic Math Basic Concepts and Algebra with Orton-Gillingham Math Virtual Training Courses thanks to a professional development grant from the Wallingford Education Foundation. This opportunity will provide the teachers with specialized strategies for supporting high school students with below-grade-level math skills, including those with special education needs and unidentified math struggles. They plan to share their new learning with colleagues through collaborative efforts in Professional Learning Communities, district lesson studies, and participation in department meetings and district curriculum management teams.
Jillian DeGiacomo (Cook Hill Elementary School) received a professional development grant to pay the registration fee for the IMSE Comprehensive Orton-Gillingham Plus Program, which she will attend virtually. This program’s focus is literacy instruction – phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. She will learn research-based strategies to assess and support students at all tiers of RTI, including those with dyslexia and reading difficulties.
Wallingford staff members (any employee of Wallingford Public Schools) who wish to request financing are asked to complete an application and submit it to the WEF via email anytime between March 1 and 4:00 p.m. on April 1. Applicants are urged to read the entire application packet carefully and to pay particular attention to all terms and conditions.