Groton ― The Groton school district has been awarded a $1.25 million grant to bolster literacy, humanities, and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education.

The five-year Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) grant will help the district enhance instruction and improve the performance of students in these areas, said Superintendent of Schools Susan Austin.

The grant is the seventh DoDEA grant that Groton Public Schools, the largest military student community in the state, has received since 2014, she said.

“This support from DoDEA allows us to build upon and strengthen key district initiatives including literacy instruction and culturally responsive teaching, as well as leverage elementary magnet programs to promote college and career readiness,” said Ben Moon, project director for the grant. “The ability to build teaching capacity and deepen partnerships with experts and community resources will ensure that all Groton students have access to high quality instruction.”

Austin said the grant will fund a literacy and humanities coordinator and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) coordinator for prekindergarten through fifth grades that will work with existing 6-12 grade coordinators to better align the curriculum, from lower to upper grades.

The grant will “give kids the lift that they need with rigorous, relevant curriculum” so they will be better prepared for middle and high school, she said.

The funding will help the district continue to roll out curriculum and professional development for educators on the “science of reading,” a literacy approach which focuses on the sounds that letters make and is required to be taught through third grade by law, but Groton schools will expand it through sixth grade.

The grant will build upon the district’s efforts to be culturally responsive. Austin said Groton is a diverse community with 51% students of color and home to many cultures and languages. The school district’s addition of courses, such as Spanish for Spanish speakers ― funded though a world language grant ― is an example of being culturally responsive and recognizing what students bring to the table.

“Culture for all of us is so important and we need to be respectful and mindful, and I always feel like what we do in school needs to mirror what we need to do in the community for all people so I’m excited about this,” she said.

Nationally recognized experts ― Cornelius Minor, Sonja Cherry-Paul and Kimberly Parker ― will help teachers have the “tools in their toolkit” to be culturally responsive, she said.

In addition, the grant funding will help the district’s elementary schools continue to partner with community organizations, such as Project Oceanology, New England Science & Sailing Foundation, Mystic Seaport Museum, and the Mystic Museum of Art.

The district also will consider the feasibility of adding an International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme at the elementary level.

The district receives other types of aid for serving military children, including more than $4 million in federal Impact Aid, Austin said, adding that the district is reminding families to return surveys to determine how many eligible children are in the district.

k.drelich@theday.com