States are increasingly taking responsibility for addressing the need for high-quality early education programs— now engineering policies for blending funding streams, standardizing reimbursement policies, designing professional development systems, and setting quality standards. Facilities, the physical places that house early care and education programs, are a key “infrastructure” issue that states have either begun to address
For nearly 15 years, LISC has administered the Rhode Island Child Care and Early Learning Facilities Fund, a public:private partnership formed to improve the quality and capacity of early learning centers across our state. Since its launch, the RICCELFF has invested nearly $18million in 110 organizations located in 35 Rhode Island communities. Despite these investments,
Having a playground plan developed that includes an audit of your existing playground space by a Certified Playground Safety Inspector will make your capital grant request for funding to do work on your playground space much more competitive. When developing your plan and thinking about your playground capital grant application, please keep in mind that large
Wave 3 applications will now be accepted through Monday, July 13th for grant funding in the following two priority areas: PLAYGROUND PLANNING FACILITY-RELATED DCYF VARIANCE ISSUES If you think you have a project but are unsure, please feel free to contact us at riccelff@lisc.org or 401-331-0131. APPLY NOW WAVE 4 of funding will be open
In the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education, the environment is referred to as “the third teacher”. The focus on the importance of the environment lies in the belief that children can best create meaning and make sense of their world through environments which support “complex, varied, sustained, and changing relationships between people, the
Check out this TED Talk video about a school in Tokyo designed by architect Takaharu Tezuka. It’s always fun to see how other countries assess risk and utilize the built environment to become part of learning.
When the Rhode Island Early Learning Facility Needs Assessment was conducted in the spring of 2014, 40% percent of centers in which on-site assessments were conducted were observed to have water stained ceiling tiles. A water stained ceiling tile is more than just an aesthetic issue. This can be a sign of any number of
Thanks to funding made available through the Race to Top Early Learning Challenge Grant, we were able to make $700,000 in grant funding available for critical facility improvements across our state. An additional $100,000 was added to the available pool of funding by LISC for school age programs. Grant applications were accepted from January, 12,
In our first two rounds of facility improvement grants, we received many requests for shade structures for playgrounds. We agree that playgrounds need shade so that kids can get outside safely at any time of day. What better way to add shade to your outdoor play space and what better way to celebrate Earth Day
We encourage centers serving DHS subsidized or Head Start / Early Head Start children who are pursuing facility projects to consider other types of funding currently available through LISC/RICCELFF which include: FACILITY PLANNING GRANTS: A limited and competitive pool of funds exists to make grants to qualified organizations so that they can secure professional services
