How do I get a grant to start a Early Child Care Development Center?
I'm in Emporia, VA, just off of I-95 but close to the North Carolina border, so very southern Virginia. I'm in Emporia/Greensville, VA. There are 132 school districts in the state of VA and last year, 2017-2018, GCPS (Greensville County Public Schools) ranked 132, the very bottom of schools. Next door to Greensville County, is Southampton County who ranked 16.
I tried for 3 years to open a public charter school here but to no avail. So, I have decided to open a Montessori day care center here, called The G.R.E.A.T.S. (Greensville Regional Education in the Arts, Technology, and the Sciences). The early child care center will enroll children in the 3 to 6 year old range. Montessori believed in multi-aged classes, where older kids serve as mentors to the younger children and the children are together for 3 years with the same teacher.
Later, after the 3 to 6 school is established, The G.R.E.A.T.S. will establish a 0 to 3 year old Montessori day care center. Ideally, we would open both at the same time, but I know I can't afford that.
I am thinking we will specialize in Special Needs children, so as to answer the needs of the public school system for provision of Special Needs care. We will work closely with the teachers in the public schools where children will attend GCPS elementary and pre-schools.
We will have the 3 year old children for a full year before intermingling the two types of education. They will have a basic knowledge of Montessori and will be able to assemilate easily, hopefully, to the traditional school classroom.
I should mention that my non-profit is called Community Stakeholders Collaborative, Inc. (CSC). CSC is the parent company to The G.R.E.A.T.S. as well as a number of other entities i.e.: a printing company, a bakery, a whole head operation that will be beauty salon, barber shop, hats, wigs, jewelry, cosmetics kind of mini concentrated operation. We also would like to have a credit union. All of these, including The G.R.E.A.T.S., will be like an umbrella under CSC with each spoke being a dba to CSC. Currently, only the printing company and The G.R.E.A.T.S. are established.
So, this is the start for which I need the funding grant.