St. David’s Foundation, one of the largest health foundations in the country, awards $36,000 to the Round Rock ISD Partners in Education Foundation (PIEF) to support the Round Rock ISD prekindergarten program, RRock Ready. A total of 108 grants were awarded across 93 local organizations that provide essential services and reflect the Foundation’s commitment to advancing health equity in Central Texas or support the Foundation’s strategic priorities. This grant specifically addresses supporting resilient children by funding programs such as RRock Ready.
“St. David’s Foundation is committed to supporting strategies and programs that support early brain development and encourage social connection. This investment will enable Round Rock ISD to expand its current program of outreach and education to early childhood centers and home-based providers to improve the quality of education so that children enter school ready to learn,” said Regan Gruber Moffitt, vice president of community investments at St. David’s Foundation. “We look forward to learning how this work can improve school readiness to support all students.”
RRock Ready is an innovative collaboration created by Round Rock ISD that advances kindergarten readiness in early childhood-aged, Central Texas children through free professional development for childcare providers from licensed childcare facilities and registered in-home daycares. The grant will fund pilot strategies, including Summer Sessions; a RRock Ready conference; and Family Engagement with the intended results of increased learning for caregivers, an increased connection between families and community resources, and improved outcomes for children entering kindergarten.
RRock Ready will launch summer sessions at the Round Rock Public Library and Lakeshore Learning. The sessions will cover new professional development topics for early childhood. Partners will leave with knowledge, strategies, and materials to enrich students’ learning. They will also connect providers with free resources available in their community. In addition to the summer sessions, RR Ready will host a local one-day conference offering a variety of informative and interactive sessions led by early childhood experts.
Margo Vogelpohl, director of federal programs, and her team are already hard at work planning for the summer sessions.
“We are incredibly thankful to be able to partner with the St. David’s Foundation and their efforts to support early childhood,” Vogelpohl said. “With this grant, we will be able to implement programs that will continue to support school readiness for all students.”
