preschool at both ends of our district and in our elementary we offer a four year old program. We’ve also partnered with the local YMCA to offer daycare for not only our community, but for our teachers and faculty and staff.” The district is also expanding the reach of its preschool through community programs such as On My Way, which offers financial assistance to families, helping to minimize financial barriers that come with early childhood. When it comes to academic achievement, the FLCS took a proactive approach to lessen pandemicrelated learning gaps.“We were very adamant about in person learning, even during the pandemic,” asserts Smedley. “We offered virtual as well, but when we could come back, we did. That helped us as far as decreasing the amount of gaps that we could have sustained.” In addition, the state endorsed Science of Reading program has been a valuable tool in helping students who may have fallen behind.“We have teachers that have completed that certification and those who are working towards that, just to help us with any kind of gaps. We were strong to begin with, it was just a matter of getting the kids there and in person to maintain that strength,” she says. 292 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 06, ISSUE 03
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