Thanks to federal grant money, a Utah-based organization is offering young New Hampshire students free education.
Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund dollars has been granted to Waterford Upstart enabling them to provide 900 New Hampshire families of pre-K students with laptops, internet via a loaned hotspot, family education coaching and exclusive access to Waterford Upstart's online learning program. And, these are all for free, Government Technology reported.
Waterford Upstart is an educational nonprofit launched by Waterford last 2009. It offers an online kindergarten readiness program where math, science and literacy are taught.
Breaking Point
The educational nonprofit will be using ESSER funds to provide all these free benefits.
The purpose of the ESSER fund, according to the N.H. Department of Education, is to provide emergency relief money for elementary and secondary schools that are experiencing ongoing impact from COVID-19 pandemic.
Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut shared that the grant was given to Waterford because they have contributed to students' success.
"Millions of children and families have benefited from the ongoing research, development and enhancement of the curriculum in schools, homes and learning centers around the world. The Waterford Upstart program helps close the well-documented preschool access gap, providing proven school-readiness support for children most at risk of school failure, " Edelblut explained.
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Out of control
The deadline to sign up and receive benefits is set on Jan 31 next year. It is open to all students who will be entering kindergarten in the fall of 2023, without needed requirements for income or location.
The program is intended to be utilized as an "at-home learning opportunity," complementary to whatever pre-K schools, homeschooling or Headstart is doing, Jeanie Ryan, the New Hampshire Waterford Upstart media contact said.
The mission of the program is to get parents' involvement with their kids' learning.
Their online learning program features personalized learning. Although the grant is for the literacy program, she said, students are also given access to math and science lessons by Waterford Upstart for free.
The program, as Ryan described, is a family communication opportunity where kids can develop education readiness, enabling students to have a strong foundation for lifelong learning.
Interested parents can visit waterford.org and create their account using a form available in the website. This immediately gives parents and kids access to thousands of online early learning activities from their resource library.
The next step would be submitting an application to enroll their children for the free Waterford Upstart program, which gives the the benefits of "a year-long guided learning path" with personalized and interactive activities that use stories, characters and songs to make learning more fun and memorable, an expert support from a dedicated family educational coach, and a laptop and internet access, which will remain with the family even after the program has ended.
The Waterford organization is dedicated to developing, not only high-quality learning programs for kids but most especially, accessible programs regardless of their location, means of living, background and other circumstances.
They are committed to equity and access, ensuring that each child will have the opportunity for success.
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