iLEAD Agua Dulce, a free public charter school serving grades TK through 6, has been selected to receive a $475,000 grant to bolster its acclaimed project-based and social-emotional learning programs, the school announced Thursday.

The grant, which is allocated and administered by the Federal Public Charter Schools Grant Program, will allow iLEAD Agua Dulce to create multiple new physical spaces for its learners to promote discovery, design, creativity, and problem-solving. The grant money will fund creation of an Exploratorium, a fully integrated learning environment featuring a wide range of multimedia technology to engender hands-on learning opportunities. It will also facilitate creation of the school’s Makery with hand and power tools, a “tinkering station” and a robotics lab.

The funds will also allow the school to create art and music labs, a greenhouse, and various outdoor learning spaces to enhance the school’s existing chicken coop and gardens, and will be used toward the purchase of Promethean ActivTables in each classroom, Apple TVs, projectors, agricultural tools and gardening supplies.

All new projects will be completed by the end of 2019, according to School Director Lisa Latimer.

“The Federal Public Charter Schools grant will allow iLEAD Agua Dulce to truly provide the ultimate hands-on learning environment to our students,” Latimer said. “Our curriculum is designed to equip students with the critical thinking, problem-solving, and entrepreneurial skills necessary to succeed in a 21st century world. We were very mindful in applying for this grant to address a healthy mix of technological, arts- and music-based, and agricultural needs – all of which are very important to our community, and which adhere closely to our project-based model. This money will allow us to optimize our indoor and outdoor spaces to their fullest and will provide our learners with the opportunity to have truly rich experiences in both areas.”

iLEAD Agua Dulce is located in Los Angeles County near Santa Clarita, 10 minutes north of Sand Canyon. To learn more, please visit https://ileadaguadulce.org/.

About iLEAD Schools
iLEAD Schools, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, is a network of charter schools throughout California and the Midwest. iLEAD empowers learners to become conscientious, compassionate, and responsible citizens of the world, and inspires them to become creative thinkers and leaders with a lifelong love of learning. The iLEAD learning model promotes individualized instruction, active learning methods and opportunities for self-directed learning. The organization celebrates and fosters each child’s individuality, and supports them in discovering their highest potential in the environment which best suits their learning needs.