Early learning classrooms at Central Cambria School District are set to expand with Neighborhood Assistance Program funding announced Monday by the state Department of Community and Economic Development.
The Learning Lamp received $18,000 to partner with the district to develop more care options for families.
“This project is looking at expanding infant and toddler care in particular in that region,” The Learning Lamp CEO and President Leah Spangler said.
She said Cambria County has lost a third of its child care providers since the COVID-19 pandemic, and although there are nearly sufficient preschool options in the area, the waiting lists for infant and toddler classrooms are much longer.
According to DCED information, there are seven child care providers with a maximum of 300 spots to serve more than 500 children younger than 4 in the region.
“It’s going to be very needed,” Spangler said of the expansion.
Central Cambria Superintendent Jason Moore said the classrooms would be created at Jackson Elementary School in unused space freed up when the district’s elementary school reconfiguration was approved last year.
Those adjustments moved all district third- through fifth-graders to Cambria Elementary School in the Ebensburg area, which hosts kindergarten through fifth grades, and left only kindergartners through second-graders at Jackson Elementary in the Mundys Corner area.
“The goal for the district is to have that space (at Jackson) permanently being used to benefit the kids and families in our school district,” Moore said.
The concept of using Jackson Elementary to expand child care in the region was discussed during the elementary reconfiguration process and received support from the school board.
The Community Action Partnership of Cambria County already operates two 4-year-old to preschool classrooms at Jackson Elementary, so the district was exploring similar options, Moore said.
Spangler said The Learning Lamp’s goal is to work collaboratively with those existing classes to create a smooth transition for children through the offerings.
These dollars were part of a total of $34.3 million awarded to 218 projects throughout the state with the Neighborhood Assistance Program, which leverages tax credits “to help low-income individuals and improve distressed areas in Pennsylvania communities,” according to a DCED release.