NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
26 June 2002

KELLOGG FOUNDATION TO PROVIDE $5.25 MILLION IN FUNDING FOR CITY SCHOOL DISTRICT’S EARLY CHILDHOOD PROGRAM

Harrisburg, PA — Mayor Stephen R. Reed today announced that the prestigious W.K. Kellogg Foundation has awarded the Harrisburg School District a $5.25 million grant for the implementation of a comprehensive early childhood education program. One of the major components of the Mayor’s reform efforts for the District is the early childhood initiative, which will be known as the REACH Program, which stands for Reaching Early Achievement for Children in Harrisburg. The Program will provide early learning opportunities for children aged 3 and 4 years old, to prepare them for Kindergarten and first grade.

Reed said: “There is compelling evidence and wide understanding that the first years of a child’s life are the most formative. It is when a child first forms the views, habits, attitudes and sense of self that last a lifetime and very much set the course for how well a child will do in school in later years.

Reaching youngsters at ages 3 and 4 is imperative to give them a healthy head- start on learning and on life.”

The Mayor noted that seven years ago, the school district had eliminated Kindergarten for 4 year olds and considerably scaled back what was offered 5 year olds. “It may well have been the worst academic decision made by the District in its history, with the inevitable result of some youngsters showing at the first grade unprepared and starting their education already behind.”

Reed said: “The REACH Program will possibly do more to improve the lives of children in this city than any other single effort to date. When fully funded and implemented, it will give every 2 and 4 year old the academic and social capability to succeed in school and the opportunity to develop the skills necessary to enter Kinder- garten prepared to read and write. We well know that youngsters with good language skills do consistently better in every class and in later careers.”

The Mayor lauded the Kellogg Foundation for their generous support of Harrisburg’s effort, with the city District being the smallest of nine other school districts around the nation to receive the distinguished Kellogg Grants. “We are delighted to announce this unique partnership between the Harrisburg School District and the world- renowned Foundation,” said Reed.

Marvin McKinney, Senior Program Officer for the Kellogg Foundation, stated “No one has developed in three months a $5 million comprehensive proposal to the Kellogg Foundation but the Harrisburg School District did so. This demonstrates to us that there is an extraordinary level of commitment by Mayor Stephen R. Reed and the Harrisburg School District to the reform of the District and ensuring the academic success of Harrisburg’s youngest citizens.”

The Mayor said the generous grant from the Kellogg Foundation will enable the City District to offer year-round education to 3 and 4 year olds, with the added benefit of being able to provide all social and health services as well. The grant will allow the District to serve 180 children in Year One, 360 students in Year Two, 800 students in Year Three, and over 1,000 students in Year Four. The first year starts this September.

$1.21 million of the grant goes for on-going support and evaluation of the project, to be done by Penn State University, who will track students from the Early Childhood Program days to age twelve. The evaluation results will become part of a national guide to American schools on how best to teach children in 21st Century America.

Reed noted that Educational Tax Credit grants have also been made to the Early Childhood Program by the Pennsylvania National Insurance Company and Commerce Bank for a total of $700,000 over the next two years.

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