The good news: The Anacortes School District has received a $533,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The better news: The two-year grant provides money to help kids ages birth to 5 be better prepared for school, and it provides money for the district to reach beyond its own programs and partner with private preschools and childcare centers on Fidalgo Island.
More money isn’t the solution to every educational problem, and other Gates grants have had disappointing outcomes at times. But this grant certainly focuses on an area where it seems there should be a tremendous bang for the buck. If an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, so is an ounce of preparation.
Too many kids here, and everywhere else, don’t start kindergarten really ready to learn. And predictably, many of those kids who start behind fall further behind as the achievement gap widens.
The district has been tackling this problem with new programs emerging through Whitney Early Childhood Education Center, and now it’s poised to do even more. Expectations surrounding this grant are high, for research has shown high-quality prekindergarten programs can make a lasting impact.
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Upcoming Events: T-shirts orders will be coming up soon. An order will be placed by October 1st to receive the shirts by the 13th of Oct.) We will have green and white as well as grey and green. Please look for more information to be sent home soon.
Emergency Packs - All students are required to have an emergency pack and are assembled by the PTA at a cost of $5.00. All packs will be distributed to the teachers by Sept 30th.
School Wide Roster - The PTA would like to have a roster this year to include name, address, phone number, e-mail address and teacher. Need permission to include in the roster. Please look for form to be sent home soon.
Family Fun Night - FFN will be Friday October 24th at 6:00 pm. It will include a free dinner and an opportunity to make-a-plate or cup displaying your child's artwork for Christmas gifts.
Walk-a-thon - We raised almost $4,000 last year and would love to raise the same this year. The event will be Friday Oct 17th from 10:30-11:30. Paperwork will be sent home and is due by Monday Oct 13th. This year prizes will be offered to the top three fundraisers.
Nominating Committee - Need ideas for persons who would be interested to select the executive board for next year.
