Grant Funded Collaborations

The Madison Metropolitan School District works with community partners and foundations to expand our work in early learning programs. This work has included topics such as:

Focusing on the Science of Reading
Utilizing explicit literacy interventions
Equity and diversity work
Understanding Inclusion and Family Engagement in early learning programs

Thanks to generous donations from American Family Insurance and Roots and Wings, we have been able to lift up literacy and focus on equity for learning for our students of color in our Early Learning Programs.

Partner with Us!

Is your organization interested in participating in grant funding collaborations that focus on birth to 5 early learning programs in the MMSD? Email Culleen Witthuhn for more information.

Roots and Wings
American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact

Roots and Wings

Birth to Three Grant

The Birth to Three Grant has provided funding to support our Birth to 3 programs:

Create engagement opportunities with our 0-3 year old families in the community with the school district to provide school readiness information
Professional Development Opportunities for Play and Learn staff
Fund our Jump Into Literacy program in the 23/24 school year and the 24/25 school year
Fund the Summer Institute which provided professional development for MMSD teachers and Educational assistants and Child care educators from the Dane County community
Fund the Early Learning Connections Conference for all professionals who work with children from birth to 5 in the Madison community free of charge to attend two free days of professional learning on social justice, equity, inclusion and academic topics.
Sponsors B.E.H.E.A.R.T meetings as a strategy to prevent suspension and expulsion of young children in 4K programs and 0-3 community childcare programs
Provided funding for Pyramid Model kits for all of the 4K classrooms in MMSD and the Early Care and Educations sites in the 4K program, as well as the birth to 3 kits for programs participating in the B.E.H.E.A.R.T community program
Funds work done in conjunction with Madison Education Partnership (MEP) to create transition information for all 4K students that provide 5K teachers with additional information to support all learners as they move from 4K to 5K.

Full-Day 4K Grant

The Full-Day 4K Grant has provided funding to support our 4K programs across the district:

Helped to purchase classroom furniture and materials for all 4K programs so both the full day and half day classrooms are provided high quality, developmentally appropriate materials and spaces for all 4K learners
Funded Professional learning and collaboration opportunities for 4K teachers and Educational Assistants to promote equitable learning and strategies for all 4K classrooms through the school district.
Provided funding for Sensory kits, so each 4K classroom has materials to support learners with Neurodiversity.
Created an opportunity for 4K and 5K teachers to reflect on transitioning 4k students to 5K.

Student plays with plastic letters on lightboard.

American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact

American Family is generously providing conference space for our 2025 Early Learning Connections Conference which supports all professionals working with children from birth to 5 in the Madison community free of charge to attend two free days of professional learning on social justice, equity, inclusion and academic topics.

American Family has provided funding to support Improving literacy outcomes for children from birth to 5.

Sponsored “Jump into Literacy program” for the 21-22 & 22/23 school year to engage birth to 3 families in our Play and Learn programs to focus on the importance of literacy in early childhood.
Helped to increase the play-based materials in our 4K classrooms, with a focus on promoting literacy with explicit teaching of literacy and focusing on the research around the science of reading
Funded One Tab devices for explicit Tier 2 literacy intervention
Helped to provide professional development opportunities for teachers to collaborate on oral language skills with students.
Provided collaboration time for 4K teachers to reflect on the science of reading and created a reflective tool to share about what 4K teachers should know about literacy instruction
Funded multiculturally diverse picture books for teachers to focus on the three step repeated reading process to build oral language skills with small and whole group instruction.