By Bill Beggs Jr.
Late last summer, the City schools took a very big step toward helping some very small St. Louisans. In August, the Special Administrative Board of the St. Louis Public Schools agreed to fully support its Parents as Teachers program, both financially and administratively.
“This is a major step toward increasing participation in the City’s Parents as Teachers program, where enrollment has been low compared to other districts across the state,” Parents as Teachers National Center CEO, Susan Stepleton, wrote to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “Not only did the SAB recognize that Parents as Teachers is an entry point for the district’s students, but it also stepped up to help to fully
support it.”
Based in St. Louis, Parents as Teachers is a parent education and early childhood development program serving parents throughout pregnancy until their child enters kindergarten, usually age 5. The nonprofit National Center oversees approximately 3,000 programs offering Parents as Teachers services nationwide, as well as in several other countries. The goal is for children to start kindergarten ready and eager to learn.
Parents as Teachers services are free to all parents of infants, toddlers and preschoolers. Research shows it fosters parents who are more involved in their children’s schools, request more conferences, and volunteer more in the classroom. According to a recent study of 7,000 Missouri kindergarteners, when Parents as Teachers is combined with preschool, the achievement gap between high- and low-poverty kids is virtually eliminated by kindergarten…with benefits that continue to at least third grade.
In the last 12 months, the nonprofit National Center also has received some support from the private sector, not the least of which was three grants from Boeing totaling more than $104,000 to expand efforts for work in the City of
St. Louis as well as with diverse populations, including military families, in and around Missouri.
In addition, the National Center received a $50,000 grant from Express Scripts Foundation earmarked to enable the Parents as Teachers National Center to train childcare providers throughout Missouri, particularly those
serving low-income families and rural families with
limited access to quality childcare. The grant focused on 19 counties with a high percentage of children living in low-income families, including the City of St. Louis.
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