Century Fund supports STEM

The Century Fund recently awarded $30,000 to Community Services for Children (CSC) to create a STEM-focused prekindergarten. The award helps CSC to expand the number of low income children accessing high quality prekindergarten by adding a pioneering new program called the Newton School in Allentown that has a unique STEM focus (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) along with literacy, social studies, physical development and health, art and music. The funding pays for furniture, equipment and start up materials.

Twenty children are enrolled in The Newton School, all of them provided scholarships through CSC’s PreK Scholarship Organization funded by local corporations contributing through the Educational Investment Tax Credit program.

“ We know that teaching literacy skills is essential to success,” said Jane Ervin, CEO and President of CSC. “Now the research is in that shows early math skills are predictors of success, too.”

In the 2014-15 school year, The Newton School is located on the Donley Children’s Campus in east Allentown. CSC is currently looking for new space in Allentown with the expectation that in future years The Newton School will expand to centers around the Lehigh Valley.

The STEM-approach to learning uses hands-on experiences to help children discover ideas in science, math, and engineering. Teachers learn to use open-ended questions to support children’s learning. With a generous grant from PPL, CSC has also developed and recently launched a STEM training series for prek teachers.

“Early education teachers have had little exposure to the methods, materials and applications for STEM teaching up to now, “ said Ervin. “We believe that both The Newton School STEM-focused preschool and the comprehensive training for prek teachers is new in Pennsylvania.”

CSC is the region’s leader in early childhood education and family development, reaching 40,000 children in 18 counties annually. For further information, call Sara George, 610-437-6000, x2101.