The Early Literacy Alignment Mini Grant (ELA Mini Grant) provides up to $5,000 funding to Georgia public elementary schools seeking to vertically align innovative literacy practices with local child care programs. Specifically, the grant funds strategic partnerships between child care providers and local public elementary schools as they engage in collaborative professional learning to align their literacy practices to facilitate a smooth transition for rising pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students. The ELA Mini Grant is made possible through the generous donations to the Georgia Foundation for Early Care & Learning and to the Georgia Foundation for Public Education via the PEACH Education Tax Credit. 

About the Georgia Foundation for Early Care + Learning 

Founded by Governor Nathan Deal and the Georgia Assembly in 2017, the Georgia Foundation for Early Care & Learning makes strategic investments to improve and expand high quality early education to help ensure all children in Georgia are prepared to success when they enter kindergarten regardless of family income or location. The Foundation will support education excellence by partnering with families, communities, the early care and education industry and stakeholders. 

About the Georgia Foundation for Public Education 

The Georgia Foundation for Public Education, the Georgia Department of Education’s philanthropic arm, exists for the single purpose of supporting educational excellence for students in Georgia. The GFPE supports educational excellence in Georgia K-12 schools through donations and the PEACH Education Tax Credit, Georgia’s innovation-focused public education tax credit.

You are eligible to apply for an ELA Mini Grant if you meet all of the following criteria:

• You are the administrator (Principal or Assistant Principal) of a Georgia public elementary school.
• You are partnered with a local child care provider that has received a Quality Rating. As part of the application, you must submit a signed letter of support from the child care provider acknowledging their active participation in the program.

Priority Points Eligibility

You are eligible for one (1) priority point for meeting each of the following criteria for a possible total of two (2) extra points:

• Your school is located in a rural county defined as a county with a population of 35,000 or less; or your school is located in an under-resourced urban area.
• All partnering child care programs you have identified have received a Quality Rating of one (1) or two (2) stars. 
• All partnering child care programs serve children who receive Georgia’s Childcare and Parent Services (CAPS) scholarships. 

Requirements

The Early Literacy Alignment Mini Grant Program must include the following features: 

• LEA Partnership: Selected child care program partners must be located within the feeder LEA for your elementary school. As part of the application, you must submit a signed letter of support from the child care provider(s) acknowledging their active participation in the program.
• Professional Development: The program must include a collaborative professional development component centered on early literacy in which both staff from the child care program(s) and faculty from an elementary school located in the feeder LEA participate. The structure of the program and selected professional development program is determined by the Local School System (i.e., the applicant), and is subject to approval from the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning. 
• Literacy Focus: The selected professional development program must have an early literacy focus that will strengthen vertical alignment in literacy instruction at the child care center and the elementary school, ensuring rising pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students are entering elementary school with strong foundational literacy skills. This professional development must be based on the Science of Reading. 

Allowances

The ELA Mini Grant will provide Local School Systems up to $5,000 over a six month period to partner with (a) local child care program(s) as they engage in collaborative professional learning to vertically align their literacy practices. You may use ELA Mini Grant Funds for the following purposes:

• Professional development;
• Meals for participation in professional development (must be reasonable);
• Mileage and travel to participate in the professional development;
• Supplies to support the implementation literacy practices in the classroom; and 
• Other allowances not otherwise stated that are for the original purposes of the program.

If you have any questions during the application process, please contact: