Free seats still open in full-day Muskegon County preschools
Seats are still open in preschool classrooms at Explorers Learning Center in Roosevelt Park, Reeths-Puffer’s McMillan Early Childhood Center, Montague, Muskegon Heights, Oakridge, and Ravenna’s Beechnau School. The free, full-day openings are available through the state-funded Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) are for children who turned four between September 2, 2016 and September 1, 2017.
Children enrolled in GSRP attend Monday through Thursday and enjoy breakfast, lunch and a snack. A variety of fun activities are offered and revolve around stories, art, music, math, science and play. Circle time, sharing, and interacting with their first-ever classmates and teachers help children get ready for kindergarten.
School staff are eager to enroll new students right away as classes have already started. As part of the enrollment process, staff will help families determine if they meet income eligibility guidelines.
Last year about 67% of the over 2,000 4-year-olds in Muskegon County attended preschool. According to Stuart Jones, MAISD Director of Early Childhood Services, a preschool experience has long lasting positive impacts on young learners. “Specific research on GSRP shows that children who attend these high-quality preschools do better developmentally than those who do not attend a high-quality preschool program,” said Jones.
Great Start Readiness Program preschool classes operate through May or early June. Currently, a family of four would be eligible for the free program if their annual income was $61,500 or less. To learn more about enrollment call the MAISD at 231-767-8300 or visit www.muskegonisd.org/earlychildhood/gsrp.
Contacts:
Stuart Jones, MAISD Director of Early Childhood Services at 231-767-7272 or sjones@muskegonisd.org
Kristin Tank, MAISD Public Information Officer at 231-894-5419 (cell) or ktank@muskegonisd.org