West Marin preschool gets $100K grant

Papermill Creek Children’s Corner, a preschool in Point Reyes Station, has been awarded a two-year, $100,000 grant to support early care and education services for families living in rural Marin.

The preschool, which serves about 25 students ages 2 through 5, was one of 80 entities awarded grants from the Marin Community Foundation earlier this year under the philanthropy’s “community power initiative.”

The program is a new funding structure that gives nonprofits more agency to make spending decisions that best suit their needs, said Lourdes Romo, executive director of the preschool.

“We will use the multiyear unrestricted funds granted by the Marin Community Foundation to provide equitable wages to support teacher retention and to provide critical training for teachers,” Romo said.

“Equitable wages for early childhood education teachers, and access to high-quality early care and education for children and their families, are the highest form of equity,” Romo said. “That’s particularly true in rural West Marin, where challenges and disparities magnify.”

The preschool, which is full-time, has four teachers employed by the school and a fifth through the federal Head Start program run by Community Action Marin, a nonprofit organization, according to the school.

Julie Cassel, a Papermill Creek board member, said the stronger wage equity for staff will support teacher diversity and retention and thus enhance the student experience.

“In addition to strengthening equity through staff continuity, we also know that educational representation for all students increases inclusion and is a key component of student success,” Cassel said. “We are really conscious of the positive impact our diverse staff has on our students.”

Romo agreed.

“This multiyear general support fund model will be vital for our organization,” she said.

“We have a culturally diverse teaching team,” Romo added. “Our staff’s socio-economic, ethnic and racial diversity is closely aligned with that of the children participating in the program and representative of our West Marin community.”