Taneyville laying ground for future success

Silver Dollar City Foundation grant helps make preschool affordable

Research increasingly shows a strong correlation between quality early childhood education and the long-term success of students. This research only confirms something many school leaders have believed for years.

“Kids who have an early learning opportunity such as preschool, it is setting them up for success,” explained Taneyville Principal Brandi Turner.

The challenge many districts face is making preschool affordable for the families they serve.

During the 2023-2024 school year, Taneyville School District received a state grant to provide preschool free of charge to families. That funding, however, came with strict certification requirements. Those certification requirements combined with a shortage of qualified early childhood education teachers in the rural school district’s inability to qualify for the funding again this school year.

Despite only receiving the grant for one year, the data they collected was exactly what district leaders needed to know that they were on the right track.

During the 2023-2024 school year, 95 percent of the district’s incoming kindergartners participated in the preschool program. When those kids entered kindergarten this school year, 79 percent scored above the expected reading level. In comparison, only 31 percent of the previous year’s cohort participated in preschool. Of that class, 22 percent scored above the expected reading level.

“The data shows that even just one year of quality preschool can give kids a huge advantage when they enter kindergarten and really set them up for success,” said Superintendent Dr. Tara Roberts.

“It’s amazing to have that kind of progress,” Turner added.

Making preschool affordable, however, is the challenge. That’s where a grant from Silver Dollar City Foundation came in this school year and made it possible for the district to continue to keep preschool within reach for many families.

With a $15,000 Hope Grant, the district reduced the cost of tuition to only $10 a day for 3- and 4-year-olds enrolled fulltime in the program. Without the grant, Roberts said, 60 percent of families could not afford to pay the tuition.

“To us, the Hope Grant is providing the opportunity of preschool to families who otherwise couldn’t afford it,” Turner said. “When you are supporting the kids, you are supporting the whole family.”

With the lower cost, Turner said the district now has a waiting list of kids from other districts hoping for a spot in Taneyville’s preschool program.

“One of the reasons we have such a long wait list is because there’s very limited childcare out there,” Roberts said. “Preschool is important for the future success of students, but it’s also important right now for families who need to work.”