Friend: Local pre-K programs receive $76,000 in grants

STATEHOUSE (June 6, 2018) — Two local pre-K programs were selected to receive an early education capacity-building grant, according to State Rep. Bill Friend (R-Macy).

Lewis Cass Schools in Walton were awarded more than $53,500 and the Maconaquah School Corp. in Bunker Hill received nearly $23,000.

Friend said the grants were awarded by Indiana’s Office of Early Childhood and Out-of-School Learning to early learning providers and county coalitions to serve more children and increase the quality of early education opportunities provided in Indiana. In 2017, Friend supported the law appropriating the grant funding.

“These early learning programs can help a jump start a child’s academic career,” Friend said. “These grants can be used for a variety of projects to help provide high-quality preschool education to more children in our community.”

More than $1.5 million in grants were awarded to 17 applicants representing 54 pre-kindergarten programs in 16 counties.

Capacity-building grants may be used for the following purposes:

• Training and professional development of teaching staff;
• Classroom materials that demonstrate increased outcomes for children or increased instructional practices for educators;
• Evidence-based curriculum or instructional materials including professional development for teaching staff to utilize the curriculum;
• Family engagement activities or materials and/or marketing and communication materials; and
• Other relevant needs to help expand capacity and/or improve quality programming to help programs reach Paths to QUALITY™ level 3 or 4, which is the requirement for a provider to be eligible to be an On My Way Pre-K provider. 

Grant awards are for one year with the option to request an extension if additional capacity-building activities remain that have not been completed after one year.

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State Rep. Bill Friend (R-Macy) represents House District 23,

which includes portions of Cass, Fulton and Miami counties.

A high-resolution photo of Friend can be downloaded by clicking here.