The Baldwin County School District’s Early Learning Center is set to receive a $5,000 summer literacy mini-grant from the Sandra Dunagan Deal Center for Early Language and Literacy at Georgia College.

The funds are designed to bring a specialized summer literacy program to the Early Learning Center that will allow two and three year old’s gain exposure to literacy at an early age to further assist in their academic development.

“The Early Learning Center is one of the innovative programs we offer in our school district,” said Superintendent Dr. Noris Price. “This grant is just another way that we can begin having an academic impact on students at the earliest ages possible.”

“We are very excited because it means we have even more students to share our summers with,” said Early Learning Center Director Lori Smith. “While it’s only a small class, the impact will be huge. Studies have shown that students with no access to early education programs have been exposed to millions of fewer words than students who have attended an early education program. This grant will allow more students to get exposure to foundational literacy skills.”