RALEIGH — North Carolina Superintendent Mark Johnson announced Thursday that the Department of Public Instruction is now accepting grant applications for the new $400,000 Coding and Mobile App Development competitive grant program. The program will fund up to $40,000 per school to develop industry partnerships to design and implement computer science, coding, and mobile app development programs for middle school and high school students.

“This is a great opportunity for schools to partner with technology companies and design innovative programs that will excite students and point them toward careers in tech, a sector that includes careers that require everything from a high school diploma to a master’s degree,” Johnson said. “I thank the General Assembly for making this program a priority and I am looking forward to reviewing the applications this fall and seeing the programs in action in the spring.”

The deadline for schools to submit applications is Oct. 15. School districts and charter schools can use grant funds to purchase equipment, digital materials, and for other purposes, including teacher professional development. Applications and instructions are available at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/cte/.

By law, grant recipients will represent a diverse pool of North Carolina’s public schools. The budget the General Assembly passed in June gives the superintendent of public instruction the responsibility to choose which entities will receive the grants and instructs the superintendent to ensure diversity in “geographic location, the positive impact on the community of industry partnerships, and the size of the student population served by the recipient….”

For this grant cycle, recipients will be identified this fall and schools will implement their programs during spring semester 2018. In succeeding years, recipients will be chosen in the summer and programs will be implemented in the fall.

For more information, contact NCDPI Communications at 919-807-3450.