SCCSD has secured funding for its Pre-K program for the next three years.
Superintendent Dr. Miskia Davis told The Enterprise-Tocsin this week the district has received the state-invested SIPP grant that will keep the county’s Pre-K students in the classroom for the foreseeable future.
Led by Director of Early Childhood Education Leigh Ann Reynolds, the district has most of its Pre-K students at Rosser Early Learning Center, with one additional class at AW James in Drew.
“We are in the top five Pre-K programs in the state of Mississippi,” Davis said. “Mrs. Reynolds, she is just awesome. That is her gift.”
Davis said the program has achieved an A rating the last two years.
Unlike other assessments, Pre-K is graded based on how students who have passed through the program perform at the third and fourth grade levels, said SCCSD’s Dylan Jones.
The district’s Pre-K funding had been coming through the Early Learning Collaborative, as part of the district’s partnership with Delta Health Alliance, which was severed last spring.
The end to that partnership left funding in doubt for the district, but Davis said at the time district leaders were pursuing other avenues.
“Interestingly enough, under the collaborative, we were funded $50,000 per classroom, but with SIPP, we’re funded $100,000 per classroom,” Davis said. “We don’t have to worry about donations or anything like that with this grant. We can fund all of our teachers and leaders, with no strings attached.”
