William Penn announces grants of $32 million in Philadelphia region

The William Penn Foundation has released the official list of recipients of more than $32 million in grants for education, the arts and conservation.

The Philadelphia School district will receive about half of the money – $15 million – to add 18,000 classroom seats at high-performing schools in the district as part of the Great Schools Fund. The fund seeks to add at least 50,000 seats as high-performing schools in the city.

The second largest chunk of money – $4.2 million – will go toward watershed protection initiatives across the region. According to the foundation, the grants will help to preserve and restore key lands in the Pennsylvania Highlands, New Jersey Pinelands and the Bayshore regions. It will also support research and pay for expanding The Circuit, Philadelphia’s trail network.

Other big winners include the Kimmel Center ($2.5 million for rent relief and capitalization), Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance ($1.1 million to support “Creating Change” research initiatives) and the Franklin Institute ($2 million for heating and cooling of its new third-floor exhibits space.)

Here is the full list of recipients.