EVMS Minus 9 to 5 has received a $317,000 grant to help improve quality measurement in local public schools.

The “Preschool Development Grant Birth to Five” (PDG) presented to EVMS Minus 9 to 5 was one of eight recently awarded by the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (VECF). This multi-year federal grant, initially awarded to Virginia in December 2018, provides an opportunity for communities to build, expand and sustain a birth-to-age 5 system that supports school readiness for Virginia’s children.

The funding was established to support communities in assessing and improving access to and quality of all publicly funded early childhood care and education programs. PDG-supported communities work closely with the Virginia Department of Education, VECF and the University of Virginia to bolster Virginia’s early childhood system.

The funding will support work in 347 local classrooms over the next year, says Jane Glasgow, PhD, Executive Director of EVMS Minus 9 to 5. Partners in the project include public schools in Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Norfolk, along with Mile High Head Start, Hampton Roads Community Action Partnership Head Start and more than 40 local child care centers and family days homes in the three cities and Virginia Beach.

“Our focus will be on building capacity for training and administration of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System in an effort to support quality measurement in publicly funded programs,” Dr. Glasgow says. “In addition, we will work collaboratively to create a ‘common application’ for publicly funded programs to create efficiencies and greater access to pre-K programs for our youngest residents. “

During the past four years, EVMS Minus 9 to 5 has helped to bring $1 million in federal, state, and local funds to Hampton Roads to benefit young children and their families.