$4.3 Million Early Reading First Grant Awarded to BCSD

A $4.3 million grant, to be distributed over three years, was awarded to the Binghamton City School District by the U.S. Department of Education's Early Reading First program. The grant will be used to help develop literacy skills in pre-K children.

The district will run the Early Reading First program as part of its Universal Pre-Kindergarten at Franklin Elementary, and will partner with the Johnson City Schools, the Binghamton YMCA and the Family Enrichment Network to provide the program at those sites. A total of approximately 200 three and four-year olds will participate in the program among the four sites.

Each site will expand their UPK program from half-day to full-day, making literacy skill development a priority. The sites will also add six weeks of instruction over the summer. The program will focus on all areas of development, but especially on the language, cognitive and pre-reading skills that prepare children for success in school. Teaching strategies and classroom activities used will be adopted from scientifically based reading research. The Department of Education created the Early Reading First program to address the growing concern that many U.S. children begin kindergarten without the necessary foundation for success in school.