DATE: June 23, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Leigh Ann Reynolds
lreynolds@sunflower.k12.ms.us
SUNFLOWER COUNTY, Miss. – A partnership between the Sunflower County Consolidated School District and the Delta Health Alliance’s (DHA) Head Start program will provide improved services for all pre-K families in Sunflower County.
“This new collaborative will allow all pre-K children to be dually enrolled this school year into the Head Start program to provide comprehensive services for the entire family,” said Dr. Karen Matthews, president and CEO of DHA. “The early education of our four-year-old children builds a foundation that will take them through high school and beyond.”
Dr. Miskia Davis, superintendent of the Sunflower County Consolidated School District, agreed, saying that “research from the district’s Early Learning Collaborative shows that students who participate in the pre-K programs experience greater success as they matriculate through the K-12 educational system.”
The partnership between the Sunflower County Consolidated Schools and DHA means that pre-K classrooms within the school district as well as DHA Head Start sites will both use the same curriculum called “Opening the World to Learning” (OWL). Students will also be part of the STAR Early Literacy and Brigance learning assessments conducted in the fall and spring. All lead teachers will hold bachelor of science degrees in early childhood education.
Partnerships such as this are the result of the Early Learning Collaborative Act of 2013, which provides funding to local communities to establish, expand and support successful early childhood education and development services. In 2013, the Mississippi Legislature appropriated $3 million for the collaborative act, making it the first-ever state-funded pre-K program in Mississippi.
For more information about the new partnership in Sunflower County, please contact Leigh Ann Reynolds of the Sunflower County Consolidated School District at 662-246-5395. She can also be reached via email at lreynolds@sunflower.k12.ms.us.
