Pre-Kindergarten program receives grant

Parents of the littlest Wrangellites now have a program specifically designed to assist them in pre-Kindergarten learning.

Krissy Smith, a local parent and member of the Wrangell School Board, recently completed and received a $14,000 grant for Best Beginnings, a program that focuses on assisting parents with resources and providing scholarships for children whose families cannot readily afford day care.

“Our grant is for $14,000, but we will be applying for more grants as our funding need is much bigger than this,” Smith said. “This is exciting for our community. We also developed an early childhood board.”

Smith said the program is especially helpful for very young children.

“One of the scholarships would be for 4-year-olds who need some assistance with school readiness,” Smith said. “Overall the program is from infant to 5-year-olds.”

Currently, Wrangell has a Head Start program as a preschool program and can take approximately 20 students in the 3- and 4-year-old age range.

A new parent resource bag is being developed to be distributed to all families with a new infant or if they move to town and have preschool children. Developing local parenting resources is also an important component, according to Smith, and some of the money will go to purchase new books and materials on parenting and featuring a parent resource area at the library.

A children’s health fair or screening fair will also be held once a year and would provide thorough speech and language assistance, developmental and vision screening for any and all preschoolers in Wrangell.