Small Research Grants
The Systems & Circumstances Small Research Grant program funds research on the St. Louis public education system as a whole.
Summer 2026 Cycle
We welcome any research approach on topics like enrollment trends, school history, facility planning, or shared-space models, so long that its focused on the City of St. Louis.
Short-term projects (under 6 months, started May 2026) received up to $5,000 and are meant to provide context, share history, or inform future research.
Please come back soon to learn about the findings from these small-scale research projects.
A Quantitative Exploration of School Enrollment in St. Louis City
This project examines the Saint Louis context in viewing school enrollment trends. The study is framed by two research questions:
(1) How can school closure decisions based on enrollment projections be designed to minimize inequitable impacts on historically marginalized student populations?
(2) How are enrollment projections across schools distributed across racial, socioeconomic, and geographic lines?
An Archival Analysis of LEA Responses to Small Natural Disasters.
LEA organizational responses to large natural disasters have been extensively documented, but the impacts of more common, smaller-scale natural disasters on schools are rarely studied. The purpose of this project is to examine past LEA responses to smaller-scale natural disasters in the U.S., St. Louis City LEAs’ responses to the 2025 tornado, and compare these cases.