Listen to this note:
The supervisors of the San Mateo County approved more than $3.3 million in grants on Tuesday, June 25, to support early childhood education in communities from Daly City to Pescadero.
The grants support The Big Lift, a collective impact collaboration that seeks to increase kindergarten readiness and improve third-grade reading proficiency in specific school districts.
The Big Lift project is led by three agencies: San Mateo County, the San Mateo County Office of Education, and San Mateo County Libraries, with support from numerous other public agencies, nonprofit organizations, and business groups.
The recipients of the grant are the southern city of San Francisco with $127,000; the Institute of Human and Social Development, 331 thousand dollars; coastal children's program, $127,000; Peninsula Family Service, $225,400; Millbrae Elementary School, $189,818; and the Pacifica School District, $214,401.
Likewise, the Ravenswood City School District with $269,434; Bayshore Elementary School District, $296,721; Cabrillo Unified School District, $318,600; La Honda Pescadero School District, $338,234; San Bruno Park School District, $363,000; and the South San Francisco Unified School District with $510,600.
Funding totaling $3,311,208 comes from the Measure K half-cent local sales tax.
The goal of Big Lift is to ensure that children read proficiently by the end of third grade. The initiative serves preschool through third-grade students enrolled in school districts with third-grade reading proficiency rates below the county average.
The Big Lift improves third-grade reading through a series of activities, including High-Quality Preschool Education: Preparing children to thrive in kindergarten with literacy improvements in preschool education.
Plus, summer learning: helping kids maintain their skills over the summer while having fun; and Early Elementary Literacy Instruction: High-quality literacy instruction based on the science of reading from transitional kindergarten through third grade.
In family matters, it helps parents support children's literacy development at home and in home-school partnerships.
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