Press Release: Kellogg Grant Will Expand Early Childhood Family Engagement

MSDE Receives Nearly $500,000 from Foundation

For Immediate Release                                                      Contact: Bill Reinhard, 410-767-0486

Baltimore, MD (August 21, 2015)

The Maryland State Department of Education’s Division of Early Childhood Development (DECD) has been awarded a one-year $494,370 grant from the Kellogg Foundation to provide resources, tools, and supports to early childhood service providers and families.

The award is based on the goals and strategies embedded in Maryland’s Early Childhood Family Engagement Framework. The Maryland Early Childhood Family Engagement Coalition and DECD developed the Framework to strengthen the relationship between families and service providers that include child care, libraries, home visiting, family resource centers, Head Start, local education agencies, and other child and family serving agencies and organizations.

“The Kellogg Foundation grant represents an important public/private partnership to improve services that affect our youngest learners,” said Dr. Lillian Lowery, Maryland State Superintendent of Schools.  “Our goal is to make certain that Maryland families are given the tools to provide a great start for their children.”

The grant is designed to help service providers better recognize and meet family needs, keep parents informed and engaged in children’s learning, and reduce the sense of social isolation for parents. 

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal pioneer, Will Keith Kellogg, is among the nation’s largest philanthropic foundations. WKKF is guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, and works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential.

The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special  emphasis is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.

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