Salem Public Schools and Community Partners Awarded $1 Million CPPI Grant to Boost Preschool, Childcare Opportunities
Grant expected to add two more pre-K partners, expand access to quality pre-K
SALEM (Sept. 6, 2024) – In its effort to improve and broaden preschool and pre-K education, Salem Public Schools was awarded the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative (CPPI) Grant worth $1 million, Superintendent Dr. Stephen Zrike announced recently.
The grant will enable SPS to add two more Salem-based preschool programs – Angela’s Preschool and Daycare and the Pathways for Children Head Start Program – to its partner cohort. Alongside its own Salem Early Childcare Center, the District currently partners with the YMCA, Salem Community Child Care, and Ashley’s Preschool and Daycare to offer child care options to Salem families.
Additionally, the grant will cover expenditures such as boosting salaries in partner programs and hiring behavioral and support staff, professional development, materials, and tuition relief for families.
“We are so grateful,” said Kate Carbone, Deputy Superintendent at SPS. “(The grant) will provide extraordinary resources to accelerate our vision of universal free, quality pre-K education for Salem children.
“We’ve been trying to work across the City of Salem to improve access to quality pre-K education,” she added. “Part of that is expanding seats and improving the quality of seats.”
The timing of the grant is especially favorable considering the 2023-24 school year marked the end of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding, provided by the State of Massachusetts due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Ms. Carbone also noted the grant will enable SPS to analyze the preschool needs of families throughout the community.
“We will be going out into the community to gather more information to guide our work,” she said. “We hope to move toward a sustainable model and aspire to partner with all the community-based pre-K organizations.”
The grant reinforces the District’s 2023-26 Strategic Plan, particularly the core principles of elevating learning by offering more preschool and childcare opportunities to Salem families; and empowering educators, but using funds to raise compensation and provide the necessary materials.
Salem Public Schools has been the recipient of several generous grants in recent months.
- In July, the District was among 30 recipients of the Massachusetts Life Science Center’s (MLSC) STEM Equipment and Professional Development Grant worth $169,175 to grow its STEM curriculum.
- Two weeks prior, the Salem High School Career and Technical Education (CTE) department received the $480,000 Career Technical Initiative Grant from the Healey-Driscoll Administration, just weeks after the department received a 2023 Mustang GT, donated by McGovern Ford of Saugus.
- In July, the SPS Food and Nutrition Services department received the Eos Foundation Healthy Start Award, which included a $500 grant.
- In June, the CTE program received the Capital Skills Grant of $347,000 to provide new training equipment for small engines, and hybrid and electric vehicles, in the CTE automotive technologies program.
About Salem Public Schools
Salem Public Schools is an urban public school district in Salem, Massachusetts. Salem is a small, diverse city with a proud maritime and immigrant history. Our leaders and our teachers are all passionate about education and understand the urgency of improving student achievement with equity and social-emotional needs as the lens we view all of our work through. We respect and value the racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity of our students and their families, and have a strong commitment to the Salem community. Salem Public Schools staff serve all of our students, regardless of ability or language. Salem Public Schools enrolls approximately 4,000 students across its eleven schools.
