The Hood River County School District is going to receive more than $400,000 in grant funding for the 2015-16 school year from the Oregon Department of Education.  The “Collaboration Grant” will allow further development of the Hood River Academy, an internal professional development program to increase training opportunities throughout the district.  The grant also provides support for improving the District’s professional evaluation system, increasing leadership opportunities for master teachers, and investigating different compensation models that are more aligned to teacher and student performance.  The exact amount of grant funding is still being determined, but a second year of full funding for the program is now guaranteed.