Kellogg Foundation gives $1.5 million grant for early childhood development

The Kellogg Foundation approved in spring 2004 a grant to the Calhoun Intermediate School District in the amount of $1.5 million over two years to fund the district’s Network for Young Children program. These dollars will be used to implement systems and programs that encourage the healthy development of young children, helping them to enter school ready to learn.

Research shows that children experience the greatest brain development and learning from birth to five years of age. Parent involvement in a child’s life during this growth period is a critical factor in establishing the foundation for all future learning. One recent report shows that many of the costs associated with special education stem from anxiety, stress, poor nurturing, and lack of stimulation in early childhood. During the last 25 years, the number of learning disabled students in Michigan has increased nearly 500%. The related cost to Calhoun County alone is $40 million a year, or approximately $10,000 per learning disabled student.

“In today’s educational environment, we have chosen a path that focuses on funding programs that address young people early on… to provide them with the knowledge and tools they will need to achieve in school and in life. We see this as the single most significant opportunity that the Kellogg Foundation could bring to this community and its young people,” says Jim McHale, assistant vice president at the Kellogg Foundation.