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MassLive, 4/29/18 Families with greatest needs will get more home visits from Holyoke public schools
HOLYOKE — The public schools will expand a home-visits program where staff spend time in the poorest households to assess families’ needs.
Nearly 10 families of children who attend Morgan School, 596 South Bridge St., have benefited from the program and a $25,000 state grant will add home visits to nine families of students who attend Kelly School, 216 West St., a press release said.
Nearly a third of the population of this city of about 40,000 lives in poverty, according to federal guidelines, and many are Latino for whom English is not their first language.
Information about the program is based on a press release from the Holyoke public schools and a list of questions from The Republican answered by officials.
The Parent-Child Home Program Expansion provides funding for visits to families challenged by poverty, little education, language barriers, homelessness and other factors that can affect success in school. The program is under the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, the press release said.
“More specifically, this funding supports and strengthens parents’ skills in enhancing their children’s cognitive development and school readiness,” the press release said.
In Holyoke, the program is geared to families whose children have yet to enter school, to help in preparing them to develop language skills to participate in pre-school programs, the press release said.
“Morgan School has operated the program in the South Holyoke neighborhood for several years and the participating children who are now in pre-school there are excelling,” public schools’ spokeswoman Judy Taylor said in an email.
Like the current program, the expansion will involve working with community groups to identify families with the greatest needs, the press release said.
“We are excited to grow the Parent-Child Program in Holyoke as its impact has been significant in providing our families the skills and knowledge to support their child’s early literacy development,” Stephen K. Zrike, state-appointed receiver managing the Holyoke public schools, said in the press release.
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