DuPage Early Ed Benefits From $20MM Grant

Children in DuPage will benefit from sorely needed investments in early education through a $20 million Preschool Development Grant-Expansion Grant that will expand access to full-day preschool services for 4-year-olds in 18 Illinois communities.

The grant, announced Dec. 10 by Governor Quinn, was awarded to the State of Illinois by the U.S. Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. Metropolitan DuPage, as part of its partnership with Wheaton/Warrenville School District 200, the DuPage Community Foundation’s Bright and Early Initiative, and the Wheaton/Warrenville Early Childhood Education Collaboration, are among the organizations involved in securing the grant in DuPage.

Metropolitan DuPage will launch and oversee three new classrooms in the Wheaton/ Warrenville area, and serve as the grant’s fiscal agent. Metropolitan DuPage, along with each of the communities benefiting from the grant, are committed to developing a “pipeline” of services for children from birth through third grade, supporting the most vulnerable children and their families throughout the early childhood years.

Thanks to the DuPage Community Foundation and the Wheaton/Warrenville Early Childhood Collaboration whose members include School District 200, Positive Parenting DuPage, Easter Seals of DuPage and the Fox Valley area, the Wheaton Public Library, faith-based preschools, KinderCare and many others for their role in supporting and furthering Metropolitan Family Services DuPage and other DuPage constituents’ commitment to early childhood education.

The grant will be renewable for an additional four years.

For more information about the national grant competition and results, click here.