Parents as Teachers program receives $535,000

Kathy Jennings | Thursday, August 14, 2014

Amy Slancik

Matt Lynn

Sally Reams

One of the goals of The Learning Network of Greater Kalamazoo is to help children get the right start so they can succeed when they get to school.

Toward that end, The Learning Network and the United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region have awarded $535,000 to a program that equips parents of children younger than age 3 so that they can help their children reach short- and long-term education goals.

The program is Parents and Teachers offered by Community Healing Centers. The program that follows a national model is intended to help parents countywide.

Community Healing Centers will work with Kalamazoo Regional Educational Services Agency (KRESA), Comstock Community Center, Advocacy Services for Kids (ASK), Catholic Family Charities, and the Douglass Community Association as the program proceeds.

Amy Slancik, community investment officer for The Learning Network at the Kalamazoo Community Foundation, says the program fits with the foundation's goals for countywide collaborations and preparing children for kindergarten readiness.

Sally Reames, executive director of Community Healing Centers, says Parents as Teachers will provide individualized and intensive parent education, help connect parents with various community resources, and other support services.

More than 500 families are expected to be served in the first year and their progress will be monitored, Each child's progress and parents' skills in helping children as they attend pre-kindergarten educational experiences will be tracked.

"School readiness must begin at the earliest age possible, and this collaboration targets that critical stage of a child’s life," says Matt Lynn, director of Community Impact for UWBCKR. "Because the need stretches beyond borders, this partnership will have a positive impact for kids across the county."

The grant to support the Parents as Teachers program is just one of the local efforts designed to promote early age education. In June, The Learning Network granted $542,412 to Kalamazoo Ready 4s for an early childhood initiative by the Northside Committee to provide support for 3-year-olds and their families residing in the Northside and Douglas neighborhoods. At the same time, UWBCKR announced education grants of just over $1.8 million, mostly targeting early age literacy and school readiness programs.

Source: The Learning Network