A $20,000 grant from a local organization will support Southwest Allen County Schools°®¶¹app™ efforts to expand its pre-K program to most of its elementary buildings next year.
Board members applauded Superintendent Kent DeKoninck°®¶¹app™s announcement Tuesday that the Community Foundation of Greater Fort Wayne awarded SACS the maximum amount allowed through its Agile Grant.
This funding supports specific programs and projects in various areas, including education, according to the Community Foundation°®¶¹app™s website.
DeKoninck credited Fred Graf, the district°®¶¹app™s director of community connections and special projects, for his work on the application for the outside funding. The dollars will go toward equipment and curricular materials.
Indiana doesn°®¶¹app™t include pre-K students in the school funding formula. The state instead offers On My Way Pre-K, which awards vouchers to 4-year-olds from low-income families so they may participate in a high-quality pre-K program the year before beginning kindergarten. The Family and Social Services Administration website indicates SACS is an On My Way Pre-K provider.
Neighboring district Fort Wayne Community Schools has said On My Way Pre-K is designed to give qualifying parents a way to pay for existing preschool programs °®¶¹app“ not to establish such classes. FWCS largely depends on federal Title I dollars to support its pre-K classes, which build youngsters°®¶¹app™ skills through hands-on, play-based learning.
SACS, which has six elementary schools, launched its pre-K program at Covington Elementary School this academic year.
DeKoninck said the classes will expand to three more sites next year °®¶¹app“ Haverhill, Lafayette Meadows and Whispering Meadows elementary schools.
°®¶¹appœWe will be getting out information to our parents in January about that expansion,°®¶¹app he said.
Preparations for the pre-K program began under the leadership of former Superintendent Park Ginder, who in March said the program would reach 4-year-olds and have a startup budget of $234,000 to $260,000. Those costs included about $80,000 for equipment along with expenses related to certification requirements and hiring a teacher and two instructional assistants.
The former SACS leader said students would attend school for five hours a day. The experience is expected to help them learn executive functioning skills, including organization, along with basic school behaviors and needs, such as how to hold a crayon and how to play with others.
