Conestoga Valley School District (CVSD) has announced that it has been awarded a Pre-K Counts grant for the 2023-24 school year.

The Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts program provides free prekindergarten services to at-risk 3- and 4-year-olds and offers full day services in CVSD. This program will be held in all four of Conestoga Valley's elementary schools beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 5.

Steps to Success Inc. will be the district's lead partner for classrooms located at Brownstown, Fritz and Leola elementary schools. Owl Hill Learning Centers will be the lead partner for the two classrooms located at Smoketown Elementary School. In addition, the district serves as the lead agency supporting two prekindergarten classrooms at Lancaster Mennonite School.

The Pre-K Counts program was established in 2007 to provide eligible children access to high-quality, publicly funded prekindergarten. The program's goal is to reduce educational disparities for children who are age 3 to the entry age for kindergarten and live in families earning up to 300% of the federal poverty level.

This is the ninth year CVSD has been a Pre-K Counts lead agency and grant recipient, but this year marks the first time the classrooms will be located in CVSD's elementary school buildings.

For more information, visit http://www.conestogavalley.org/Page/4877.