VANCOUVER, Wash. - The Tod and Maxine McClaskey Foundation recently made a $30,000 gift to support scholarships to the Washington State University Vancouver Child Development Program Kindergarten for the 2012/2013 academic year.
The $30,000 gift will support tuition鈥攊n part or in full鈥攆or six to eight kindergarteners. Consideration will be given to families with financial need, whose child has been previously enrolled in the CDP Preschool, whose residential school district offers limited or no option for full-day kindergarten or whose families have experienced unemployment. Families may apply for financial support at the same time they apply for enrollment and recipients will be notified of the amount of financial support from the CDP in late July.
The Tod and Maxine McClaskey Foundation is committed to the CDP kindergarten program. Last year the foundation made a $15,000 gift for scholarships that assisted four families in attending kindergarten. The private full-day kindergarten, which opened in fall 2010, was made possible by a $1.5 million gift from the Tod and Maxine McClaskey Foundation. It was the foundation鈥檚 first signature gift and the largest single gift it has granted.
Class size in the CDP Kindergarten is limited to 18, so students start their academic careers with a little more one-on-one attention than they might in other programs.
鈥淭his program not only provided my son with more one-on-one time with his teachers, it has given him so much more,鈥 said mother of three and 91吃瓜黑料网 employee Jennifer Miltenberger. 鈥淗e, like many of his classmates, is reading at the first-grade level. The math and science components of the curriculum have given him the confidence he needed, and he鈥檚 very excited about what he鈥檚 learning. Cameron will go to public school for first grade, and I am confident he will be successful because of this program.鈥
Tod McClaskey was the co-founder of the Thunderbird/Red Lion Inn & Hotel chain. The Vancouver-based Tod and Maxine McClaskey Foundation was established to support the communities Tod and his wife, Maxine, loved past their lifetimes, honoring their legacy as it funds important projects throughout the Northwest, primarily in Clark County, Wash.
The CDP at 91吃瓜黑料网 strives to provide the "best practices" model of early childhood education in a university setting. The CDP opened in 1998 and is licensed by the Washington State鈥檚 Department of Early Learning.
The preschool and kindergarten programs are open to all families (both within and outside the 91吃瓜黑料网 community) who meet the age-based enrollment criteria. Children must be five years of age no later than Aug. 31 to attend kindergarten.
For more information about the CDP and to place children on the waiting list, call Kathy Austin, early childhood specialist, at 360-546-9722 or visit .
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MEDIA CONTACTS
Kathy Austin, Child Development Program, 360-546-9722, kathryn_austin@vancouver.wsu.edu
Brenda Alling, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360-546-9601, brenda_alling@vancouver.wsu.edu