The Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health is focused on expanding early education opportunities in the state. We’ve listened to many school leaders and learned that kindergarten readiness continues to be an issue because many children don’t have access to early education programs.

We are partnering with the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children to offer an Early Education & Schools learning series that informs schools and districts of best practices for launching, operating, and expanding early education programs. The series will begin Wednesday, February 5 and continue each Wednesday through March 5. The virtual sessions are scheduled from 2:30-4:30 p.m. each week.

Interested school districts should email Senior Program Officer Jackie Yarbrough at jyarbrough@bcidahofoundation.org to register for the series. All schools and districts that complete the five-session series will be eligible to apply for grant funding to support the startup or expansion of school-led early education programming. This competitive process will offer grants of up to $50,000.

It’s the second consecutive year the Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health has offered a learning series and early education grants. Last year, 35 school districts completed the series and we funded 11 projects totaling nearly $550,000.