Smart Beginnings NRV, a program of the New River Valley Regional Commission, was recently selected to receive a $250,000 grant to enhance early education in the NRV. The Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (VECF) announced the recipients of six $250,000 Mixed-Delivery Preschool Grants. These grants were awarded to communities throughout Virginia to field-test strategies and solutions to help more children access high quality preschool. Another key component of Mixed Delivery projects is cross-sector collaboration.
The NRV’s Mixed Delivery project is designed to enhance early education throughout the region via preschool teacher professional development. Additionally, the project will work to connect private childcare centers with comprehensive community services to better support healthy development of “the whole child” and help families thrive.
The Smart Beginnings NRV program received the Mixed Delivery grant in collaboration with the Alliance for Better Childcare Strategies (ABCs) and Virginia Quality, the NRV Mixed Delivery Preschool Project Leads.
Many other essential partners contributed to the successful Mixed Delivery project proposal:
- Child Care Aware of Western Virginia
- CHIP, New River Community Action
- Community Foundation of the New River Valley, First Steps
- Davenport Institute
- Floyd County Public Schools
- Giles County Public Schools
- Head Start, New River Community Action
- Montgomery County Public Schools
- New River Community College
- Pulaski County Public Schools
- Radford City Public Schools
- Rainbow Riders Childcare Centers
- United Way of Southwest Virginia
- Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth
- Virginia Tech Child Development Center for Learning and Research
- Virginia Tech Department of Human Development and Family Science
The aforementioned partners, among many others, will be engaged in the successful implementation of the Mixed Delivery project with the shared goals of helping more children access high quality preschool and equipping families with the supports they need to succeed.
For more information on the Mixed Delivery grant program, visit the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation’s Mixed Delivery webpage. For more information on the six Mixed Delivery grantees, see Governor Northam’s announcement.
For further information on the NRV Mixed Delivery project, contact Meghan Pfleiderer (meghan@nrvrc.org), 540-639-9313, ext. 213.