Perry Township Schools Gets $40M Grant
INDIANAPOLIS, IN — Perry Township Schools has received an unprecedented $40 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., the largest award given in the competitive third phase of the Marion County K-12 Public Schools Initiative.
The massive investment is earmarked for a five-year initiative designed to close achievement gaps, strengthen career pathways, and cement the school system’s commitment to empowering the Southside community.
The grant is one of 34 large-scale implementation grants recently awarded by the Endowment, aimed at improving academic achievement and post-high school success across Indianapolis schools.
Key Initiatives Funded by the Grant
The $40 million will fuel a comprehensive strategy focusing on four core areas within Perry Township Schools:
Closing the Math Achievement Gap: Targeted resources will be deployed to help improve math proficiency across the district.
K-8 Career Exposure: The curriculum will be enhanced with real-world career experiences to help students develop practical, critical employability skills starting in elementary school.
Cultivating Teacher Excellence: The funding will be used to ensure high-quality educators by implementing measures to cultivate and retain top-tier teaching talent.
UIndy Partnership and Innovation Facility: A significant portion of the grant will be dedicated to building a new innovation facility located on the University of Indianapolis (UIndy) campus. This facility will serve as the center for expanding the entrepreneurship graduation pathway, offering students early and immersive college-and-career experience.
Empowering Students and Southside Community
Perry Township Schools Director of Grants and Strategic Partnerships, Melissa Morris, called the award an “extraordinary investment.”
“This investment directly supports and accelerates our goal to empower the Southside community of Indianapolis,” Morris stated. “We look forward to working with our partners over the next five years to develop a self-sustaining system that inspires students to dream and equips them with the skills to turn those dreams into reality.”
The partnership with the University of Indianapolis is central to the plan. UIndy President Tanuja Singh emphasized the collaboration as a model for Indiana education:
“UIndy is deeply invested in improving outcomes for students at every level of education and developing the next generation of Hoosier dreamers and thinkers who will solve the problems of tomorrow,” Singh said. “I believe this collaboration serves as a model for how higher education institutions and K-12 schools can work together to expand opportunity, strengthen the state’s talent pipeline and transform student outcomes across Indiana.”
This award follows a separate $7.8 million implementation grant Perry Township Schools received in May 2025, further illustrating the district’s proactive approach to securing funding for its students.
