CALUMET CITY | Thornton Fractional North High School officials are applying for state grants totaling more than $900,000 to help allow experienced teachers to mentor colleagues and provide more services to parents.

School Board officials in Thornton Fractional Township High School District 215 submitted paperwork on Tuesday to apply for the Illinois State Board of Education's school improvement grants for the 2009 fiscal year.

School districts across the state will apply for these grants to help fund attempts at discovering innovative techniques for educating students. Jennifer Norrell, District 215 curriculum and instruction director, said the socioeconomic status of students at Thornton Fractional North makes them eligible to receive money, although the district will have to compete with other Chicago south suburban districts for grant money.

Under the grant program, the district is applying for an award of up to $307,236, with the possibility of having that amount renewed for two more years. That puts the total amount of money the district could receive at $921,708 through the 2010-11 academic year.

Norrell said the district would want to use some of the money to help cover expenses incurred by its creation of "instructional coaches," a new classification of teachers who are supposed to advise other teachers in their academic areas.

The instructional coach positions are being created for the first time for the upcoming academic year, and replace the department chairmen who previously performed administrative duties for each academic subject.

Some money also will be used to help pay for programs to strengthen parental involvement. One such program could be language instruction for adults who need to speak and read better English to comprehend what is happening with their child's education.

The state is expected to provide grants by Sept. 30. Norrell said she hopes to know early in the academic year whether District 215 received grant money.

"Hopefully, there are many good things that would be funded for $900,000," she said.

This grant is one of several that the district has applied for. Officials recently learned they will receive a an ISC-4 grant for $40,536 to help pay for developing curriculum for the new culinary arts program the district wants to offer.

The district also applied to the state for a $99,012 grant to help pay for Advanced Placement programs, and to the federal government for $828,877 over a four-year period to help cover physical education programs costs.

Other grants sought by the district come from private funds n District 215 applied for grants from the AT&T Foundation of Illinois and Exxon/Mobil to cover costs of improved science and mathematics programs.