Pre-K Post Newsletter

Inside this issue

     
The Alabama School Readiness Alliance is a joint campaign of:














     
About ASRA

The Alabama School Readiness Alliance is a nonprofit advocacy campaign to expand access to high-quality, voluntary pre-kindergarten to all four-year-olds statewide. 
 

     
Pre-K in the News

Clanton Advertiser: Jemison Elementary School receives funding for pre-K program

Andalusia Star-News: Another Pre-K classroom to open at SES

Shelby County Reporter: Young Impressions receives increased state grant

Shelby County Reporter: IES accepting First Class Pre-K registrations





 


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  Does Pre-K Work?  
 

Did you know that the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama followed First Class Pre-Kindergarten graduates through the sixth grade and found that they outperformed their peers in reading and math at every grade level?

The same study found that participation in Alabama's high-quality, voluntary pre-k program led to a significant and long-term reduction of the academic achievement gap between low-income students and their higher-income peers.

Details from the PARCA study, as well as the broader body of research on pre-k, can be found in the Alabama School Readiness Alliance's Business Case for Pre-K brief. We have updated the brief to include recent examples of local businesses, Chambers and Commerce and statewide associations that are taking action to expand access to high-quality, voluntary pre-k.


We hope that you will share the Business Case for Pre-K with leaders in your community. Please email ASRA to request copies of the brief. ASRA can also recommend speakers from our Pre-K Task Force, staff and partner organizations that can present information from the Business Case for Pre-K to groups of leaders gathered for civic meetings, company functions or community events. Contact us!

 

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  Calling All Parents! Share Your Pre-K Stories  
 

Parents are not only their children's first and best teachers; they are also their strongest advocates. That is why ASRA partner organization VOICES for Alabama's Children is leading Parent VOICES for Pre-K, a statewide grassroots movement to urge our state legislators to increase the availablity of high-quality voluntary pre-k. Click here to join Parent VOICES for Pre-K! 

If your child or grandchild benefited from attending Alabama's First Class Pre-K program, or if you are struggling to find a high-quality pre-k program for your four-year-old, Parent VOICES for Pre-K would like to hear from you! Your stories will help encourage lawmakers to continue to grow state pre-k investments. To share your story, email Katie Glenn, Outreach Coordinator for VOICES for Alabama's Children, at kglenn@alavoices.org

 

 

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  Church Adopts Local Pre-K Classrooms  
  While state funding for First Class Pre-K is growing, it is only enough to provide classrooms for 25 percent of Alabama's four-year-olds in the upcoming school year. That means three out of every four four-year-olds in our state will not be able to attend Alabama's high-quality, voluntary pre-k program.

In Tuscaloosa, which has been a leading Alabama pre-k community for more than a decade, a local church is lining up to support remaining unmet needs.

While Tuscaloosa has several Alabama First Class Pre-K classrooms, nine local public school classrooms do not yet have funding from First Class Pre-K. That's where the First United Methodist Church of Tuscaloosa has stepped in, giving its members a chance to fund developmentally-appropriate classroom and equipment and supplies that, in some cases, have not been updated since 1997.

Check out this VIDEO to learn more about the FUMCT's Pre-K Initiative, and contact ASRA for help adopting classrooms in your community!  
 

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