Learning Lamp receives grant for pre-K programs in Greater Latrobe, Derry Area, Ligonier Valley

Nontraditional preschool programs in the Ligonier Valley, Derry Area and Greater Latrobe school districts boast a combined enrollment this year of 80 children ages 2 to 5, and leaders are hoping a new grant will help build on the momentum.

Tiny RAMs, Tiny Trojans and Latrobe Little Learners kindergarten readiness programs are partnered with the Learning Lamp program under the Westmoreland Kindergarten Readiness Initiative.

The initiative is dedicated to making preschool opportunities available to families in underserved rural areas of the county. The Learning Lamp program, founded in 2003, attempts to assist students on an individual and school district level to fill gaps in education preparation.

“Kindergarten readiness is needed for children to keep up with studies and thrive in an academic environment,” said Lisa Stofko, director of community outreach for the Learning Lamp. “Programs like these give all students equal footing, and none of them fall behind.”

The programs recently received a three-year, $322,500 grant from Richard King Mellon Foundation. This will provide funding for Tiny RAMs and Tiny Trojans to continue, and help with startup and continuation funding for Latrobe Little Learners for 2023-25. Stofko said this funding is crucial for the success of Greater Latrobe’s program because it is relatively new.

“We were able to create a (grant) application that was able to represent multiple communities within those three districts,” Stofko said. “Kindergarten readiness is so important, and (the Richard King Mellon Foundation) believed in it so much that they are willing to give us money for the next three years.”

Stofko said most of the funding will be dedicated to paying instructors and employees in each program.

According to the most recent study by Pre-K for PA, an early learning campaign, more than half of eligible children in Westmoreland County do not have access to high-quality, publicly funded pre-kindergarten.

“Children’s brains develop the most quickly between the ages of birth and 5,” said Heidi McIntosh, director of the Tiny RAMs program, which serves children living in Ligonier Valley School District. “This critical period of childhood sets them up for success in school, which is exactly what the kindergarten readiness program aims to do. Strengthening and building bridges between the families and schools is vital.”

Ligonier Valley’s Tiny RAMs began in 2019 with funding from United Way of Southwestern PA. It currently receives partial funding from Community Foundation of Westmoreland County. The school district had consistently encountered children coming to kindergarten without having attended preschool or any pre-K programs. Administration wanted to start a community-based pre-K program that would meet in convenient places, such as the library or in the child’s home. They also wanted to make sure the program was affordable.

Once the program began attracting more attention, the school district approached the Learning Lamp to grow and gain more funding. Learning Lamp then reached out to Greater Latrobe and Derry Area school districts to gauge interest in creating their own programs. Derry Area had already started one similar to Ligonier Valley’s.

“Learning Lamp is here to provide support in gaps and to help children succeed,” Stofko said. “We mainly help with grant applications and oversight. There’s strength in numbers.”

Despite being in a partnership, each of the programs run as individual entities and follow the same model.

For more information about Tiny RAMS, visit facebook.com/tinyramprogram. To learn more about Tiny Trojans, visit sites.google.com/dasd.us/tinytrojans. Visit glsd.us for more information about Latrobe Little Learners.