Focus Area: Early Childhood

Grant Amount: $10,000

Based in Grand Rapids, serves the 7 area school districts plus Itasca Community College. The Itasca Area Schools Collaborative was formed in August 2005 to bring new focus to a partnership of area school districts seeking increased educational opportunities for students.

Grant supports the Invest Early collaborative early childhood education program, which was created in partnership with IASC, District Special Education, Kootasca Head Start, and Minnesota North-Itasca College. With locations in Grand Rapids, Nashwauk-Keewatin, Greenway, and Deer River, the program serves children ages 3-5 who are at risk of entering kindergarten without the necessary skills for success. Invest Early requires all education staff to have Conscious Discipline training (a trauma-informed approach to social-emotional learning and classroom management) in order to implement the methodology system-wide effectively. Grant funding will support providing this training to staff.