Three-Year Grant by Mississippi Power Will Help Early Childhood Programs Prepare for State Quality Rating System

JULY 6, 2007 | Mississippi Power has awarded a three-year grant of $450,000 to the Mississippi State University Early Childhood Institute to help early childhood programs in the company’s service area prepare for the state quality rating system.

The institute will provide technical assistance to licensed child care centers that plan to enroll in the Mississippi Child Care Quality Step System. That system offers incentives for centers that make measurable improvements in quality. The Office for Children and Youth of the Mississippi Department of Human Services launched the system this year in nine counties in eastern Mississippi.

“By launching the Mississippi Child Care Quality Step System, the State of Mississippi has created clear standards and incentives for higher quality in early care and education. Thanks to Mississippi Power, we will be able to work closely with participating child care centers to help them prepare to earn high-quality ratings from the Quality Step System as it takes effect,” said institute director Cathy Grace, Ed.D.  “The MSU Early Childhood Institute will use evidence-based methods for on-site technical assistance and professional development of early childhood teachers and caregivers.”

The Early Childhood Institute will offer the help to early childhood programs that suffered damage from Hurricane Katrina of 2005. The institute already has coordinated extensive assistance to child care centers in the Katrina region.

Anthony Topazi, president and chief executive officer of Mississippi Power, announced the contribution by the company’s Mississippi Power Education Foundation at a June 28 forum on early childhood education in Jackson, Miss. He commented, “We believe that the private sector must play a role with government in responding to this need if we are to give our children in Mississippi an opportunity for success.”

Cheryl Mueller, M.S., will coordinate the technical assistance project, to be called Power Early Learning.

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