The state of Illinois held a re-competition for the Preschool For All (PFA) grant that serves as the primary source of funding for District 97’s Pre-Kindergarten Partnership (PKP) program. We submitted our proposal to the state in January, and anticipate receiving a response in April. Below are a few things about the proposal and our program that we want to bring to the attention of the community.
- *Potential change to the PKP program – Our PKP program currently features morning and afternoon half-day sessions. As part of our proposal, we broached the prospect/possibility of offering both half-day and full-day sessions next year.
- Funding the program – As stated above, the PFA grant is the primary source of funding for our PKP program. With that said, if our proposal is not approved by the state, we will seek alternative options for funding the program at some level because doing so aligns with our belief in the importance of early education, and our commitment to meeting the needs of our youngest learners.
- *Enrollment in the program –Families who are interested in enrolling their children in the PKP program are asked to please email us at [email protected]. After we receive that email, we will contact you to schedule a preliminary screening. The results of that screening will help us determine if your child will participate in a full screening in the spring. We will then use the results from that screening, as well as eligibility criteria that are based on state requirements and research regarding childhood development, to determine enrollment.
*Please note that decisions regarding the program (length of the sessions we offer, criteria for eligibility, enrollment, etc.) will not be made until we hear back from the state regarding our proposal.