(the subtext to this article is we’re happy for Ruleville, of course, and who will rise up to get our own Promise School here?)
Delta Health Alliance has been awarded a new $150,000 grant from the Phil Hardin Foundation to implement programs in the Ruleville elementary school to ensure incoming students are academically ready for kindergarten and to provide third grade students with the support they need to pass the third grade reading test. The grant will cover the 2019-2020 school year in Ruleville.
According to Delta Health Alliance CEO Karen Matthews, “We are thrilled to partner with the Phil Hardin Foundation to help more students in Sunflower County succeed academically. Their grant will fund initiatives that have a successful track record in getting students ready for school and performing well in school.”
The Phil Hardin grant will support a kindergarten entry “boot camp”, called Promise School, where students learn skills that they will be assessed on, as well as skills to enable them to learn successfully in a classroom setting. The grant will also fund a group of special classroom teachers, called “Literacy Fellows,” to work directly with third grade students to help improve their reading skills.
According to Lloyd Gray, Phil Hardin Foundation executive director, “Research shows that children who are not entering kindergarten ready to learn and who are not reading at grade level in third grade are on a trajectory towards poor educational outcomes, with lifetime social and economic consequences. The Phil Hardin Foundation is committed to making sure all students have the resources they need to succeed in school. Delta Health Alliance has a successful track record with these programs in Indianola and we are pleased to expand them to other students in the Sunflower County Consolidated School District. It is our hope that these programs together can serve as a model that eventually will be further expanded to other districts around the state.”
To learn more about Delta Health Alliance, go to https://deltahealthalliance.org or follow Delta Health Alliance on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/IndianolaPromiseCommunity/
To learn more about Phil Hardin Foundation, go to http://www.philhardin.org/
