Governor Polis announces $851,369 Education Grant for Centennial School District

SAN LUIS VALLEY - Governor Polis announced today the first round of Response, Innovation and Student Equity (RISE) Fund awardees. In September, Gov. Polis announced the $32.7 million RISE fund supports high-needs school districts, charter schools, and public institutions of higher education to address the learning challenges related to the economic, social and health impacts of COVID-19 in a manner that creates sustainable innovations that improve student learning, close equity gaps, and enhance operational efficiency for pre-K-12 through higher education.


“The COVID pandemic highlighted many deep, systemic inequities facing the children of San Luis, said Kimba Rael, principal of Centennial High School. “Receiving this RISE grant provides our students with much-needed opportunities to recover from the inequities of the pandemic, and, more importantly, to take a giant step toward leveling the playing field for our students in digital learning spaces in ways that both sustain and share the rich and meaningful history of our area to ensure our story is told and does not become lost nor neglected.”


”My administration is committed to expanding opportunities for San Luis Valley residents and all of our rural communities and ensuring that our entire state is better prepared for our future. This grant to Centennial R-1 will help get the San Luis Valley and Colorado get closer to that goal,” said Governor Jared Polis.


All of the recipients were chosen by a group of parents, students and education leaders.
“These initial recipients of the RISE Fund represent a diverse and forward-focused group of organizations that are each uniquely positioned to support the students and communities who have been hit hardest by COVID,” said Mike Johnston, chair of the RISE grant selection committee and CEO of Gary Community Investments. “These innovative leaders will not only help us find solutions to the crises created by COVID, but will also envision and build new approaches to solving some of the long-standing educational inequities that need powerful, fresh ideas built from the ground up.”


Centennial School District R-1: $851,369 for a partnership with History Colorado to integrate local San Luis Valley history into social studies, civics, and history curriculum.


RISE award winners come from diverse geographic regions, including Pikes Peak, Southwest Colorado, Northwest, West Central, North Central, and the Metropolitan regions.