U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, and Cindy Hyde-Smith, and Congressmen Bennie Thompson, and Michael Guest announced the Philadelphia School District is one of 12 Mississippi districts to be awarded a $3.75 million grant.
Superintendent Dr. Lisa Hull said this grant will amplify and increase the kind of work the district is already doing with educational camps, textbooks, technology, and intense AP classes, like physics and computer science.
“Because of this grant, our students have an opportunity to participate in a rigorous, a higher level class than what we would be able to offer. We offer some AP classes. We offer a lot of rigorous classes, but not anything that has all the different components that the AP classes have that are being funded through this grant,” said Dr. Hull.
The 12 districts receiving the grant are part of the Mississippi Public School Consortium for Educational Access, which provides high school students with access to advanced science, technology, engineering, and math courses within school districts considered to be located in rural, high-poverty communities.
“When you have people like Cindy Hyde-Smith, Roger Wicker, Bennie Thompson, Michael Guest, supporting this, they want it to be successful. Without this grant that our legislators have supported we would not be able to offer this type of program,” said Dr. Hull.
Dr. Hull said the courses that are supported by this grant are demanding and often require time outside of school, but she said the effort is worth it in the long run.
“It is just a wonderful experience for our children to be able to have that quality and that caliber of a class that they have an opportunity to experience because so many children do not have that,” said Dr. Hull.
The grant was made by the education innovation and research program through the U.S. Department of Education.
