NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: August 15, 2024

State Board awards five school districts $4.7M in grants to implement State Invested Pre-K programs

JACKSON, Miss. – Today, the Mississippi State Board of Education awarded $4,725,000 in grants to five school districts to implement new State Invested Pre-K (SIP) programs.

The purpose of these grants is to provide funding to support high-quality pre-K programs for 4-year-old children in districts that are not part of the Mississippi Department of Education’s (MDE) Early Learning Collaborative program. SIP programs expand MDE’s offering of high-quality pre-K programs.

Nineteen SIP programs have been implemented since August 2023 serving 1,820 students in 91 classrooms. The new SIPs will serve up to 300 students in 15 classrooms.

Like ELCs, the SIP programs will meet all 10 benchmarks established by the National Institute of Early Education Research (NIEER): use of early learning standards, curriculum support, teacher degree, teacher specialized training, assistant teacher degree, staff professional development, maximum class size, staff-child ratio, screenings and referrals, and a continuous quality improvement system. Partnerships with local childcare centers or Head Start grantees are not a condition for receiving these grants; however, applicants with such partnerships earn extra points in the evaluation process.

The grant period is Aug. 16, 2024 – June 30, 2027. Awarding of the grant each year shall be contingent upon the successful completion of services, a performance evaluation and the availability of funds. Additional SIP funding opportunities will be available in spring 2025.

Find all MDE news releases at mdek12.org/news.

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