Florida School District Provides Free Online Kindergarten-Readiness Program

  • By Yvonne Marquez
  • 05/26/20

About 500 Pre-K students in Escambia County will have access to a free online summer education program designed to help children make up for lost learning due to the coronavirus. The Waterford Upstart Summer Learning Path was purchased by the Escambia County School District in Florida and has been used at the elementary level. It will now be available throughout the summer months for preschoolers.

“It comes with evidence-based curriculum. So, this is not something free you’d get on the internet. This is high-quality programming that’s directly related to what students need to know as they’re starting kindergarten in August.” Kimberly Krupa, executive director of Achieve Escambia, a coalition of local agencies, told local WUWF.  

Students entering kindergarten should be able identify letters and letter sounds, shapes and colors and count to 20. Students may lose months of learning between Pre-K and kindergarten; the program hopes to bridge that gap.

The Waterford Upstart summer program includes educational songs, activities and curriculum for students and their families. Through Escambia County’s program, families will receive a free laptop and a Wi-Fi hotspot for the summer, according to Krupa.

The program runs through June 1 through August 31 and is designed to use between 20-25 minutes a day, five days a week for the duration of the summer. In addition, families get a weekly coaching call to help them understand what their children are learning.

Waterford is spending $9 million to provide the summer program in the following states: Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Ohio and Texas. The program is open to 3,000 students in Florida. Registration is now open for the program.

About the Author

Yvonne Marquez is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • University of West Florida Opens New Laboratory Facility

    The University of West Florida recently announced that renovation work is complete on a new lab building for its campus in Pensacola, Fla., according to university news. Building 80 will serve as the home to the university’s civil engineering program and the Tyler Chase Norwood Construction Management Program.

  • Elevating Campus Maintenance: How Power Wash Drones are Transforming Educational Facilities

    As today’s campuses grow larger and more architecturally complex, keeping exteriors clean, safe, and inviting has never been tougher. Facilities leaders are under constant pressure to stretch budgets, meet safety standards, and support sustainability goals—all while tackling the stubborn challenge of exterior cleaning.

  • Pangram Secures Funding for AI Detection Technology

    Pangram, which provides technology that detects AI-generated text, recently announced that it has secured nearly $4 million in pre-seed and seed funding, according to a news release. The most recent round of investments, totaling $2.7 million, come on top of the pre-existing seed fund of $1.25 million.

  • Recent University of Pennsylvania Projects Receive LEED Certifications

    The University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, Penn., recently announced that three of its recent construction projects have earned LEED certifications, according to university news. The Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science and Technology (VLEST) received a LEED Platinum certification, Amy Gutmann Hall a LEED Gold, and the OTT Center for Track and Field a LEED silver.

Digital Edition