Important Dates and Resources:
- The Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) was released Friday, Aug. 8, 2025, at 12 p.m. in the DC Register. .
- The pre-application meeting will be held on Sept. 3, 2025 at 11 a.m. To attend the pre-application meeting, please . A link will be sent after registration. A recording of the information session will be available no later than Sept. 10 as an attachment to this webpage.
- Pre-application questions are due by 3 p.m. EST on Sept. 10, 2025. Send all questions to [email protected] with the subject line, RFA Question: WCEW Grant. Answers to submitted questions will be made available by Sept. 17, 2025 as an attachment to this webpage.
- The deadline for application submission is 3 p.m. EST on Oct. 8, 2025.
- The grant period is anticipated from Nov. 26, 2025 to Sept. 30, 2026.
Grant Background:
The 乌鸦传媒 of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), Division of Health and Wellness (HW) is soliciting applications for the Whole Child and Educator Wellness (WCEW) grant.
The purpose of the WCEW grant is to build the capacity of early childhood education (ECE) facilities and public and public charter schools in the District of Columbia (DC) to implement policies, processes, and practices that integrate health and wellness into the ECE facility or school to create and sustain healthy learning environments and foster positive student and/or educator outcomes. The WCEW grant aims to support ECE facilities and schools in implementing programs that meet or exceed DC requirements and/or standards for health and wellness programming. Aligned with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC) model, the WCEW grant supports high-quality program implementation with a focus on coordinating policy, process, and practice to improve health and learning.
organizations (CBOs) will partner with ECE facilities and schools to provide capacity-building supports using a technical assistance (TA) model, focused on these areas: physical activity, environmental education, garden-based education, and educator wellness. As a result of the WCEW grant, ECE facility and school teams should be well-positioned – through increased individual and organization capacity – to sustain and expand health and wellness programming beyond the grant award period.
CBOs will deliver capacity building services to facilities and schools using a TA model focused on one of the following Priority Areas:
- Priority Area #1: Physical activity;
- Priority Area #2: Environmental education and garden-based education and;
- Priority Area #3: Educator wellness.
Eligibility and Selection Criteria: OSSE HW will accept applications from CBOs that can demonstrate expertise and success working with DC ECE facilities and/or public and public charter schools to build capacity through the provision of TA in one or more of these following areas: physical activity, environmental education, garden-based education, or educator wellness. CBO eligibility, expertise, and success working with ECE facilities and/or schools will be evaluated in the review process. CBOs that are unable to demonstrate their capacity to deliver a TA model are ineligible for funding.
CBOs will partner with a minimum of five DC ECE facilities and/or public and public charter schools. CBOs must include in their application letters of commitment from each ECE facility and/or school that the CBO plans to use as partners.
Applications will be scored on the following selection criteria: logic model; program plan; program implementation and monitoring; and budget.
Length of Award: The total award period covers two fiscal years. The year 1 grant award period is from Nov. 26, 2025 (or the date of the award if awards are made after this date) to Sept. 30, 2026 and funded applicants must commit to obligate all grant funds awarded under this competition by Sept. 30, 2026.
after the initial award period is contingent upon funding availability and the grantee’s satisfactory implementation of the proposed program. Year 2 spans from Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2027. Applicants must apply for continuation awards for second-year funding.
Available Funding for Award:
- The total funding available for the WCEW program is $700,000. The funding available for Priority Area #1 and Priority Area #2 is $400,000 and the funding available for Priority Area #3 is $300,000.
- Awarded grantees are expected to receive between $50,000 to $150,000 for the grant period.
- OSSE anticipates awarding funds to four to six applicants, per funding availability.
For more information regarding this competition, please contact:
Kimberly Thompson
Program Specialist
Division of Health & Wellness
[email protected]