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NEW: LinkU Resources for Health, Food, Housing, and More
Help families at your schools connect to local resources by sharing information from LinkU.
LinkU was developed in collaboration with DC Health, the Department of Behavioral Health, the Department of Health Care Finance, and the Child & Family Services Agency to help residents explore resources to access education, food, housing, and medical services.
Visit their website for more and distribute the flyer attached here with your school community.
NEW: Celebrating National School Lunch Week
This week, schools across the District commemorated National School Lunch Week (NSLW). Held every year in the second week of October, NSLW is a nationwide celebration dedicated to highlighting the vital role school lunch plays in the health, well-being and academic success of students across America.
Each year, the School Nutrition Association (SNA) leads the charge in bringing NSLW to life. SNA equips school nutrition professionals with themes, toolkits, and resources to help them acknowledge their work, engage their school communities, and shine a well-deserved spotlight on the people behind every meal.
School nutrition teams juggle dozens of moving parts, feed hundreds of hungry students, and still find ways to bring creativity, warmth, and joy to the lunch line. This year’s theme was “Cafeteria Circus,” as SNA envisioned the cafeteria as the “Big Top” of a circus: a place full of energy, skill and heart. School nutrition staff are the ringmasters keeping the show running, the talented crew making every meal happen with precision and care. Find school lunch and additional nutrition services resources on OSSE's website here.
Promoting Real Food in Child Nutrition Programs with the USDA (Reminder)
The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Team Nutrition initiative announced the release of new and revised nutrition education and training resources designed to help child nutrition program operators promote the clear, common-sense message of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2025-2030: Eat real food.
These resources focus on eating whole, nutrient-dense foods. These foods include protein foods, dairy, healthy fats, vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Additionally, they highlight the importance of limiting the intake of highly processed foods, added sugars, and refined carbohydrates.
Resources for Schools
Resources for Child Care Organizations
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NEW: Join the Social Studies Walkthrough Cohort, Registration Closes Oct. 27
The Social Studies Walkthrough Cohort is an innovative initiative designed to strengthen the capacity of social studies leads and school leaders directly focused on social studies outcomes in supporting teachers' implementation of discourse-based practices. This program will focus on using OSSE’s Instructional Walkthrough Tool to enhance instructional coaching and improve social studies instruction.
This program offers targeted professional learning, collaborative practice, and actionable feedback cycles designed to deepen expertise in social studies instruction and enhance the use of the OSSE Instructional Walkthrough Tool.
Qualified candidates will be secondary (grades 5-12) schools that have implemented a standards-aligned social studies curriculum that is grounded in document-based inquiry and discourse.
Additional details on the benefits and structure of the program can be found here. Registration closes Tuesday, Oct. 27. This cohort is only open to six schools, so space is limited. Each school may have up to five participants.
For questions contact Madison Kantzer, Madison.Kantzer@dc.gov.
NEW: Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) + Social Studies Community of Practice (CoP), Jan. 27
Join us as we explore how SEL fuels civic reasoning, perspective-taking, and meaningful dialogue in social studies classrooms while leveraging DC Social Studies Standards and tools. We will highlight powerful examples and examine how social studies builds empathy, respect, and responsible decision-making. This CoP is equal parts exploration, collaboration, and learning, so don‘t miss it.
This CoP meeting will take place from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 27, in person at OSSE (1050 First St. NE). To learn more about this opportunity, please click on the registration link here or contact Marcus Hughes at Marcus.Hughes@dc.gov.
2026-27 Uniform Per Student Funding Formula Working Group Meetings (Reminder)
Pursuant to the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula (UPSFF) for Public Schools and Public Charter Schools Act of 1998, OSSE is convening the 2026-27 UPSFF Working Group. The UPSFF Working Group is responsible for providing recommendations regarding potential revisions to the UPSFF. The focus area for the 2026-27 UPSFF Working Group is the exploration of potentially funding the Advanced Technical Center (ATC) and career and technical education (CTE) through the UPSFF.
All meetings are public and will take place virtually and you are invited to participate as a member of the public. Working group facilitators open the floor for comments from members of the public towards the end of every meeting. For more information about the 2026-27 UPSFF Working Group including registration links to the remaining meetings, please visit OSSE’s Website.
Upcoming Meeting Dates
- Wednesday, Oct. 28, 3-5 p.m.
- Tuesday, Nov. 10, 3-5 p.m.
- Monday, Nov. 23, 3-5 p.m.
If you have any questions, please email Gabriel.Montague@dc.gov.
State Title III Advisory Committee Applications, Due Oct. 16 (Reminder)
Are you an educator, LEA/school leader, parent, teacher educator, research or policy expert, or community organization member who understands the perspectives, strengths, and needs of students who are English learners? OSSE requests applications for the 2026-2027 State ESEA Title III Advisory Committee, which serves as an advisory body to support OSSE in carrying out its responsibilities under Title III of ESEA for the District of Columbia.
By joining this committee, you will contribute to OSSE’s development of educational programming, administration, and accountability guidelines to support LEAs in ensuring that immigrant children and English learners attain English proficiency and meet state academic achievement standards.
Apply here by Friday, Oct. 16. Applicants will be notified by Friday, Oct. 23 For more information, contact Angela Awonaike, Inclusive Practices Manager, at Angela.Awonaike@dc.gov.
Environmental Literacy Lunch and Learn, Nov. 18 (Reminder)
Join OSSE and representatives from the Department of Energy and Environment and DC Public Schools on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 12 p.m. to hear the latest environmental literacy news.
This virtual lunch and learn will explore curricular updates, grant opportunities, and new resources for schools. Register here or contact Grace.Manubay@dc.gov for more information.
Join OSSE’s ESEA Team for Title Tuesday Office Hours on Oct. 20 (Reminder)
Join us for this month’s Title Tuesday: LEA Title Programs Listening Session on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 10 a.m.
Title Tuesdays are monthly office hours covering Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) grant program topics relevant to the current moment in the grant cycle. Each session provides actionable information relevant to ESEA Title programs and offers LEAs an opportunity to engage directly with the ESEA team on any related questions.
These virtual office hours will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. on the third Tuesday of each month. Participants can join each session using the recurring link provided. Please come prepared to share your questions and feedback. We encourage participants to submit questions related to the monthly topic and ideas for future office hour topics to Con.App@dc.gov.
 FY27 SOAR Formula Consolidated Application Due Nov. 5 (Reminder)
The consolidated application for the fiscal year 2027 (FY27) Scholarships for Opportunity and Results (SOAR) Act Formula grant programs, which include SOAR Academic Quality and SOAR Early Childhood, is now available in the Enterprise Grants Management System (EGMS). The award period for these grants is July 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2027. All eligible expenses incurred during this period may be submitted for reimbursement after applications have been approved. The deadline for public charter LEAs to submit applications is 3 p.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 5.
OSSE held a pre-application webinar on Thursday, Oct. 8. Please see OSSE’s SOAR Formula webpage for application resources, including the webinar recording, its slide deck, and the FY27 SOAR Formula application guide.
For questions or additional information about the FY27 SOAR Formula Consolidated application, contact your LEA’s OSSE SOAR grant specialist.
New Terms and Conditions for Federal Awards (Reminder)
For FY27, OSSE federal grants contained new terms:
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Grantees not use federal funds in any manner that violates the Constitution, federal antidiscrimination laws, or certain executive orders.
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Grantees comply with annual registrations requirements made in SAM.gov, including provisions that address civil rights, DEI programs, and support of illegal aliens.
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Federal awards may be terminated at any point during the award’s period of performance if the award no longer effectuates the program goals or agency priorities.
The District has joined other states in challenging these terms and has sent a reservation of rights to prevent our acceptance of grants from being construed as agreement to the new terms. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact your legal counsel.
Department of Behavioral Health School Behavioral Health Services Comprehensive Expansion Grant (Reminder)
The Government of the District of Columbia, Department of Behavioral Health (DBH), Child, Adolescent, and Family Services, is soliciting applications from DC public charter school LEAs to directly hire school behavioral health clinicians where the school has the capacity, willingness, ability to implement school behavioral health services, provided that each clinician shall receive onsite clinical supervision and shall perform duties exclusively related to the School Behavioral Health Program and provide prevention, early intervention, and treatment services using the Comprehensive School Behavioral Health Model.
Eligibility Criteria:
- A DC public charter school LEA.
- A DC public charter school LEA without a DBH-funded school behavioral health partnership.
Experience requirements are listed in the Request for Applications (RFA).
An LEA that meets both eligibility and experience requirements may apply. The application submission deadline is Friday, Oct. 23 by 12 p.m.
For more information and for the recording of the Sept. 22 pre-application conference, please view here.
Grant-related questions for the point of contact, Dr. Charneta C. Scott, may be sent to dbh.grants@dc.gov.
Fiscal Year 2027 National School Lunch Program (NSLP) Equipment Assistance Grant Notice of Funding Opportunity (Reminder)
The Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the NSLP Equipment Grant is now available in the DC Register. The competitive grant application for the FY27 NSLP Equipment Assistance Grant will be available on Friday, Oct. 16 in the Enterprise Grants Management System (EGMS). This grant opportunity is available to District public schools, public charter schools and private/non-public schools that currently participate in the NSLP (including the Seamless Summer Option), and who are interested in using the equipment funds to improve the quality and safety of school food service meals. The deadline to submit applications is Tuesday, Dec. 1. The award period for this grant is the date of award through Sep. 30, 2027.
An optional pre-application webinar will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday Oct. 20, which will provide an overview of the purpose of the NSLP Equipment Assistance Grant, provide information on how to complete the application in EGMS, and share basics of project budgeting and allowable costs. Please register to attend here.
Learn more about the award here. For questions or additional information about the NSLP Equipment Assistance Grant application, contact Kimberly Thompson, Grants Management Specialist, at KimberlyA.Thompson@dc.gov.
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