Barr Foundation: Education Program Grant

The Barr Foundation's Education Program is dedicated to transforming public high school experiences across New England, emphasizing excellence and equity for all students, particularly those from marginalized backgrounds. By supporting innovative models, investing in a skilled educator workforce, and fostering community engagement, the program aims to ensure that every student is well-prepared for their future. The Foundation prioritizes partnerships with public schools and organizations committed to these goals.

NOTE: There are many pathways to receiving a grant from the Barr Foundation. The majority of our grants are either renewal grants or grants to organizations with which we have had a prior relationship. However, in a typical year, between 15% and 30% of the grants we make are to organizations that have not previously received a grant from the Foundation. Here we describe the different paths to a grant from Barr.
Every student deserves a high-quality school. In these environments, every student is prepared to meet the demands of college and career, and to navigate the opportunities and challenges that await beyond graduation.
While becoming college and career ready is a journey that begins well before high school, the high school years are high stakes years for young people. Right now, too many New England students leave high school early—or graduate unprepared for what’s next. They often struggle as adults to participate fully in their communities. We support a wide range of public schools across New England that are working hard to change that dynamic. Most are traditional district schools and school systems, though we support other types of public schools, such as charter, pilot, and innovation schools as well.
The Barr Foundation’s Education Program focuses on the transformation of the public high school experience to advance excellence and equity for young people—especially for students of color and other systemically marginalized students—across New England.
We build public will by supporting partners who elevate the experiences and voices of students, parents, and educators to build awareness, demand, and the conditions that incentivize excellence and equity in schools.
Across our program, we engage with partners in a variety of ways, supporting pilots, scaling success, and investing in research and evaluation. We work with individual public high schools, systems of schools at the network, district and state level, school support organizations, advocacy groups, and others. We find new partners through open requests for proposals, ongoing outreach by our team, and an open inquiry process.

Eligibility

We primarily make grants to 501(c)(3) public charities and public schools. We also make grants to support organizations or projects that work with qualifying fiscal sponsors, and to governmental agencies for public purposes.

Ineligibility

Barr does not make grants to individuals or for scholarships. It is also rare for Barr to fund capital projects or event sponsorships (except on occasion for longstanding partners).