Oct 17, 2014 2 min read

Trinity Area School District plans to expand its pre-kindergarten offerings after receiving a Pre-K Counts state grant.

Superintendent Michael Lucas said at Thursday night’s school board meeting the grant will allow the district to enroll 17 full-day students in its pre-K program at Trinity West Elementary School.

Currently, 17 youngsters participate in the Pre-K Counts program at Trinity North.

Pre-K Counts is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Office of Child Development & Early Learning.

It is are designed for children between 3 and 5 years old who come from low-income families and may be English-language learners, or have special needs or other issues that put them at risk of failing in school. The program’s goal is to make sure children are prepared for a kindergarten-through-12th-grade education.

“It’s significant,” said Lucas. “Preschool increases kindergarteners’ readiness and acclimates them to the school building. It gives them the experience of working with other students and learning the rules and procedures of the classroom.”

The program is provided at no cost for eligible children and families.

Trinity is collaborating with Community Action Southwest for the program, and the organization is providing the teacher for the classroom.

Community Action has operated the PA Pre-K Counts program in Washington and Greene Counties for the past seven years.

Information about the program will be available on the school district website, and people can apply through Community Action Southwest.

In another matter, the school board accepted the resignation of director Joseph Labella, who had served on the board for nearly a year. LaBella cited personal reasons for his resignation.

The school board has 30 days to appoint a new board member.