Returning SCHOOL

APPLICATION

Dates to Note

Award Application Timeline

Feb 9 – Mar 20 Award Application Window

April 4 – 10 Interview Sign Ups

April 13 – 30 Interviews

May 7 Final Decisions Delivered

May 18 Signed MOU’s Due

Educator Training

Exact dates to be announced (tentatively early August)

To prepare you for the application below, here are a few helpful links!

Click here to preview questions & prepare

Click here to download the Sample MOU

Click here to download the budget template

NOTE:

The school principal must be the one to submit this application.

Returning School Award Application 2026-27

"*" indicates required fields

Phone

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

The Pillars of a Strong Application:

A thriving garden & cooking program will meet or exceed the MOU expectations.
There are strong relationships and support from classroom teachers, admin, parents, PTA/PTO, etc.
Efforts are in place to provide financial sustainability for the program.
There is infrastructure that supports successful classes, classroom spaces, irrigated & growing, gardens, etc.

Contact Information

Principal Name*

First Last

Principal Phone*

Principal Email*

Elementary School Information

School Name*

District Name*

School Address*

Street Address Address Line 2 City State ZIP Code

School Type*

Public

Private

Charter

Number of Total Students*

TK-5th Grade

Number of Classrooms*

TK-5th Grade

How many students qualify for free or reduced price meals?*

How many students are English Language Learners?*

Please provide percentages by number(%), adding up to 100%, of the below ethnicities of your students.

African American*

American Indian/Alaska Native*

Asian*

Filipino*

Hispanic/Latino*

Pacific Islander*

White*

Two or More Races*

Not Reported*

What type of Parent Organization does your school have?*

PTA

PTO

Foundation

Other

What is the Parent Organization's Employer Identification Number (EIN) or Tax Identification Number (TIN)?*

If your school does not have a Parent Organization/foundation, please provide your school’s EIN instead.

Principal Questions

What value does this program add to your students' school experience?*

As the principal, how are you supporting the program successfully meeting MOU expectations and ensuring that every student gets to participate equally and fully?*

What areas do you think your program has room for improvement? How do you envision making those improvements?*

What additional work does your current garden space need to make it its most effective?*

Shade, seating for full classrooms, white board or board for displaying curriculum elements, etc.

Are there any projected changes slated for the garden space during the 2026/27 school year?*

Site modernization or other construction, garden space relocation, changes in irrigation or water access, etc.

Does your garden have functioning and effective drip irrigation?*

If not, what is the plan to have it working by the start of programming?

Sage Garden Project is looking to work with schools that need support with starting garden & cooking programs but fully intend to continue these programs long-term in their communities without our financial support.

What is the financial sustainability plan to fund a garden & cooking educator and to continue programming after SGP support?*

What other grants have you applied for to help support the program this year?*

Please clarify if you won/received the grant and share the $ amount you were awarded for garden & cooking programming.

What school fundraisers or foundation events have you hosted to help support your program this year?*

Describe the fundraiser and what funds were collected for garden & cooking programming.

In what ways are the following participating this year:

School/District:*

PTA/Parent Group:*

Community:*

Students:*

Do you currently experience or anticipate any resistance with any of these groups?*

Buy-in from the larger school community is an important part of a successful program, and it's helpful for us to understand if there's resistance with any stakeholders.

Click here for an example MOU for this award. Please read and answer the following questions:

Are there any parts of the MOU that you have questions about?*

Are there any parts of the MOU that you see being a challenge for your school to meet?*

Do you feel confident that you can fulfill the MOU?*

Tell us about the community that your school serves and what makes your school special.*

Examples: you serve a higher student population with disabilities, youth in foster care, have a language academy, special programs, have special community support, etc.

Educator(s) Questions

Educator Name*

First Last

Additional Educator Name (If Applicable)

First Last

Have you attended and participated in all Monthly Educator Meetings for the previous awarded 2025/26 year?*

Yes

If you answered 'No,' please explain.

What has been your biggest hurdle with your program?*

Where do you think your program is the strongest?*

Please describe your garden & cooking spaces.*

There will be a section below where you can upload a diagram and images.

Does your garden have functional and effective drip irrigation?*

Yes

If you answered 'No,' please explain.

Have you read, reviewed, and understand the MOU and sustainability requirements for the SGP Award?*

Yes

If you answered 'No,' please share what you do not understand.

If you'd like, we'd love to hear about the impact this program has made on you personally and/or on your school community.

Hearing directly from you is encouraging and enlightening!

Financials and Sustainability

Sage Garden Project’s goal is to provide funding to schools that are ready to start establishing their garden/cooking programming.

The award is meant to be a starting point, with schools ultimately building a program that will garner support from public and private partners to create long term sustainability.

This is because our goal is to support the blooming and growth of many new programs, and graduating current funded schools who have become self-sustaining allows us to provide equity and opportunity to more communities. Awardees should understand the Sage Garden Project funding is short term and not guaranteed from one year to the next.

With that in mind, we want to regularly have conversations about opportunities you can find to make the program sustainable after the SGP funding has concluded.

Will you have used your award in its entirety by the end of the 2025/26 school year?

Yes

If you answered 'No,' please explain.

Has all the Sage Garden Project Award monies been used SOLELY for educator salary?

Yes

If you answered 'No,' please explain.

How has the supplemental Sprouts funds added value to your program?*

What does sustainability for this project mean to you?*

In the 2025/26 award year, what have you already done to make your program more financially independent?*

Do you have annual fundraising goals specifically for your garden & cooking program?*

Please explain how you pay your educator(s). Address any challenges you have with educator payment.*

Do you pay your educators weekly, monthly, in an up-front lump sum, etc.

Was your garden & cooking educator(s) contracted through the District or Parent Organization?*

If other, please describe.

District

PTA/Parent Org

Other

Do you plan to contract the educator(s) in the same way next year?*

Yes

If you answered 'No,' please describe how contracting will look different next year.

Award Implementation

Will your educator(s) have met the required minimum Wild Wisdom lesson requirements for all TK-5 classes as listed in your MOU by the end of the 2025/26 school year?*

Yes

If you answered 'No,' please explain why the minimum lesson requirement will not be met.

What are the start & end dates your program has run this existing award year (2025/26)?*

Please provide month, day and year for both start and end dates.

How often does each classroom receive a garden/cooking lesson?*

For example, how often does Mr. Smith's 2nd grade class come to the kitchen or garden for lessons? (Mondays & Thursdays, once per week, every other week, etc.)

How much classroom time is allotted for a singular garden/cooking lesson?*

For example, a typical garden/cooking lesson for your school may be 45 mins (+ transition time).

Does the classroom teacher attend/participate in lessons?*

How many Wild Wisdom COOKING lessons have been taught so far?*

How many Wild Wisdom GARDEN lessons have been taught so far?*

How will garden maintenance be accomplished during the summer?*

Who will come/be responsible? What will be done during the summer: examples may be irrigation checks, maintenance or clearing of beds, prepping or amending soil, harvesting current crops, etc.

Support

Describe your schools' garden & cooking committee, including other stakeholders, and their vision and goals.*

Describe how you have engaged volunteers/community members in the following:*

(A) Helping with garden maintenance (B) Raising funds to support cooking/garden lessons and the school garden as a whole (C) Assisting during cooking/garden lessons during the school day (D) Conducting cooking/garden activities in addition to/beyond SGP lessons

Evaluation & Assessment

The Sage Garden Project requires each award recipient to complete a year-end program evaluation and student assessment. Each school is responsible for conducting this assessment using the SGP assessment tools.

By checking this box, I acknowledge that my school will participate in the annual evaluation of the program.*

Yes

Future Programming

Are you confident you can have you program running no later than August 31, 2026 and that it will run for the duration of the school year?*

Describe your plan.

Do you anticipate any changes to your educator(s) in the upcoming year?*

If your current educator(s) do not plan to return, do you have a replacement at this time?

If you receive the award, do you feel confident that you can have someone contracted and able to attend the Teacher Training? Describe your plan.*

Our 3-Day Teacher Training is a requirement of the MOU and is tentatively scheduled for early August 2026.

Sage Garden Project educator(s) are required to attend the annual 3-Day Teacher Training.*

They should be paid out of the award amount. By checking this box, you acknowledge you will pay them for their participation.

Yes, I will pay them to attend Teacher Training out of the Award amount.