Waterford UPSTART Receives $14 Million Dollar Grant for WY Kids

Wyoming families can begin kindergarten training at home. For free!

The non-profit Waterford, an early education nonprofit with a mission to achieve universal literacy for children through equity, access, and parent empowerment, has received a $14.2 million federal grant from the United States Department of Education The Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Expansion Grant was awarded with the goal of bridging the early learning gap for rural preschool-aged children through the Waterford UPSTART program.

Waterford UPSTART helps four-year-old children prepare for school at home and at no cost. Children develop foundational reading and social-emotional skills, and parents are empowered to become their child’s first and most influential teachers. The children use adaptive software just 15 minutes a day, five days a week in the year before they start school. Waterford UPSTART has been rigorously tested and proven, earning the title of a TED Audacious project. Independent research shows the average Waterford UPSTART graduate enters kindergarten reading at nearly a first-grade level and maintains those gains through the fourth grade.

200 4-year-olds in Wyoming are already taking part in the Waterford UPSTART program, and this new grant allows more to jump in and get a head-start at UPSTART.