Whitmer Reminds Mother and father There may be Nonetheless Time to Enroll 4-Yr-Previous Youngsters in Free Preschool Program

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August 12, 2022

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Gov. Whitmer Reminds Mother and father There may be Nonetheless Time to Enroll 4-Yr-Previous Youngsters in Free Preschool Program

LANSING, Mich. — Governor Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Division of Schooling are encouraging dad and mom of four-year-old kids throughout Michigan to contact their native faculty districts or go to GreatStarttoQuality.org to discover about getting their kids enrolled in a Nice Begin Readiness Program (GSRP)—Michigan’s nationally acknowledged, state-funded preschool for four-year-olds.

“Each child deserves a fantastic begin to get on observe for long-term success, and that begins with preschool,” stated Governor Whitmer. “Entry to high-quality preschool makes an enormous distinction for youths, rising their kindergarten readiness, placing them on observe for 3rd grade studying proficiency, and boosting eventual highschool commencement charges. Since I took workplace, I’m proud to have made daring, bipartisan investments within the Nice Begin Readiness Program, Michigan’s free preschool program for four-year-olds, increasing it to serve 22,000 extra youngsters by eliminating ready lists. Getting this carried out will assist youngsters in each area of our state, and I encourage dad and mom to join free preschool by visiting greatstarttoquality.org.”

In 2021, Governor Whitmer introduced a daring plan to increase GSRP to make sure extra Michigan kids might get a fantastic begin to a top quality training. Final summer time, she signed into regulation the most important growth of GSRP within the state’s historical past—permitting Michigan to get rid of ready lists and serve 22,000 extra four-year-olds. This 12 months, the governor continued to work with the legislature to take the following step in growth and assist recruit sufficient lecturers and lecture rooms to serve all eligible kids.

The growth of GSRP will increase the chance for extra households to enroll their kids in applications that may higher put together the kids for kindergarten. Youngsters that attend GSRP usually tend to enter faculty able to study, learn by third grade, and graduate from highschool on time.

“Preschool helps develop kids academically, bodily, and socially,” stated State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice. “A high-quality early training program like GSRP helps kids put together for kindergarten and success later at school and in maturity. I strongly encourage native and intermediate faculty leaders to work with their communities to increase GRSP pre-school to the utmost extent attainable. An extra 12 months of training at 4 years outdated is a research-based approach to enhance literacy, numeracy, and a variety of outcomes for college students.”

“We’re excited that there was a bipartisan finances to help GSRP growth throughout the state,” stated Rebecca Josephson-Gorinac, Director of Early Childhood Companies, St. Clair County RESA. “The rise in funding offers entry to extra sources to assist attain households, help staffing of lecture rooms, and instructor compensation. We’re seeing a rise in guardian curiosity in preschool. Mother and father worth preschool. We’re trying to increase and add three new applications in our group this 12 months primarily based on the variety of functions we acquired.”

The GSRP program meets all 10 high quality benchmarks really helpful by the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER)—high quality benchmarks akin to having instructor credentials; low staff-child ratios; smaller class sizes; and a research-based curriculum.

Mother and father can apply for GSRP’s 2022-2023 program 12 months now! Mother and father can seek for native GSRP applications via Michigan’s Great Start to Quality website or apply immediately via their native intermediate faculty district right here. 

GSRP eligibility is primarily decided primarily based on household family revenue (a household of 4 incomes as much as $69,375 a 12 months is eligible). Nevertheless, different elements akin to a identified incapacity, guardian training, and first dwelling language apart from English may be thought of. This system is obtainable as part-day and full-day with baby care earlier than and after faculty out there in lots of areas. Some applications additionally supply transportation to households.

“We would like all households to have experiences within the highest high quality applications out there,” stated Cari O’Connor, Director of Early Childhood and Guardian Programming, Montcalm Space Intermediate College District. “By GSRP, we provide a high-quality expertise and work to help wholesome kids in a complete baby approach. It’s greater than a program; it creates a group that wraps across the baby and the household.”

MDE labored with the promoting company The Yaffe Group and DPTV to provide 30-second and 15-second public service announcement (PSA) movies to intensify consciousness for this system. The movies are airing on Detroit PBS KIDS channel and The Michigan Studying Channel statewide.

 

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