FLORENCE-Great things are happening on the campus of W.C. Handy School. This week, W.C. Handy School was notified by the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education they were being awarded a competitive grant to expand learning opportunities for younger children.
An active participant in the First Class Foundation Preschool Program, W.C. Handy School will be adding four (4) classroom units to the thriving campus. Florence City School’s newest Falcons will range in age from six-weeks to three (3) years old. This expansion is made possible by the state’s renewal of the Preschool Development Grant, Birth-Five (PDG B-5) through the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education.
The PDG B-5 grant has been awarded to just five (5) sites in the state of Alabama. The three-year grant, worth over $1.2 million, will allow Florence City Schools to add classrooms for children six-weeks to twelve (12) months, twelve (12) months to thirty (30) months, and thirty (30) months to forty-eight (48) months. Each classroom will have an early childhood education teacher, an auxiliary teacher, and a floating auxiliary teacher.
“Statistics show 80% of a child’s brain is formed by age three (3), and 90% developed by age five (5),” explained W.C. Handy School Principal Michael South. “So, the PDG B-5 grant will allow us to reach young children during their most formative years. This is something we are very excited about.”
Florence City Schools will have the PDG B-5 program ready to begin at the start of the 2020-2021 school year in August. Participation in the new early childhood education program at W.C. Handy School will have a tuition cost. Before and after-school care will also be available.
Parents who are interested in the program can register by visiting the Alabama Department of Early Childhood Education web-site at https://alb3f.asapconnected.com/ or a link will be provided at www.florencek12.org/register
Media Release/Carter Watkins/Communications Coordinator/Florence City Schools
