For schools, small office has big reach

Earlier this year the folks at 807 NE. Broadway introduced the new Office of Resource Development and Innovation (RDI).

There weren't any fireworks and many of the most avid watchers of Minneapolis public schools may have missed the news because the office has only two employees. One of them has been with the district since the 1990s.

Even so, the new office is important because it coordinates all public and private grant proposals at the district and school level and is part of Minneapolis public schools' efforts to boost academic achievement.

Melanie Sanco, a seasoned grant writer with more than 25 years of experience, serves as coordinator of the new office, which is part of the corporate and community partnerships department.

Sanco was one of the original staff members for the Minneapolis Public Schools Foundation, which later became AchieveMpls. She's worked in the district for 10 years.

Eleanor Coleman, the district's corporate and community partnerships chief, introduced Sanco and Trisha Lee Cook, a program assistant who works with schools as they search for grants or other partnerships, at a recent board meeting, along with the new "MPS Grants Newsletter."

In the future the newsletter will cover issues as diverse as a new award for instrumental music programs and community-based efforts to provide warm coats for the district's increasing population of homeless and highly mobile students.

Recently the Wallace Foundation announced its intention to give Minneapolis public schools' comprehensive arts office a $750,000 grant to underwrite a yearlong planning process to strengthen and expand the district's arts programs. Separately the New York-based foundation gave more than $6.9 million to local arts groups in addition to its award to Minneapolis public schools.

"The concept of development is two sides to a coin," Sanco said. "There's the proactive part, which is writing grants. Then there's the passive part, which is piggybacking on existing programs."

Minneapolis public schools brings in more than $50 million a year in public and private grants. Private donations are handled separately through AchieveMpls. The district also works with existing programs offered by the city, the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board, and Hennepin County.

Superintendent Bill Green signs off on all grant proposals after the RDI office reviews them. It's standard, no matter what type of award a school or department pursues.

"Now that the right hand and the left hand know what's going on, we can have better relationships," Cook said.

"We want to make sure everything matches with our strategic plan [to improve academic achievement]," Coleman said. "We're constantly talking to folks to make sure that's happening."

Sanco said the reality of the economic downtown also means that some of the money from larger organizations and corporations will disappear in the coming years and may not come back at all.

"Grants are important but they're not our growth market," Sanco said. "It's important for schools to reground themselves in their local communities with businesses and alumni, because it's out of those relationships that we'll build future partnerships."