Continuing to recognize the importance of improving pre-K education as an essential first step in building a stronger foundation for advancing Detroit Public Schools (DPS) students, PNC Foundation, through The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc., recently funded the school district with an additional sum of $950,000. The funding is earmarked for the continuation of the Grow Up Great initiative, a preschool program created to enhance arts and science branches of learning amid early childhood education students.
The funds will allow the initiative to be extended for two additional years and expand from 8 to 15 schools. The goal is also to double the number of students enrolled. Since the Grow Up Great began in 2010 with a $2.1 million investment by PNC, 28 DPS classrooms have been involved, with approximately 700 preschoolers participating in various learning activities. The extension of Grow Up Great will provide added educational enhancements, inclusive of professional developments sessions and individual coaching for teachers, field trips, classroom visits by arts and science staff, as well as new books and equipment.
Grow Up Great links such partners as the Detroit Public Schools Foundation, DPS, Cranbrook Institute of Science, Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts, and Detroit Parent Network.
“Grow Up Great is a multifaceted program,” said Richard L. DeVore, PNC regional president, who also chairs the local PNC Foundation. “Music Hall for the Performing Arts provides the arts component for the children, while Cranbrook Institute provides the science part of the program.”
Based on findings by Open Minds, LLC, an independent evaluation organization, Grow Up Great has created positive changes in science and arts programming for DPS preschoolers, inclusive of posting scores for classroom environment learning that were 41 percent higher for arts and 13 percent higher for science than comparative classrooms. In addition, Open Minds found participating teachers’ average scores for the quality of classroom arts and science activities exceeded comparison teachers’ scores. Parents also felt the positive impact of the project as 85 percent of the participants’ families provided an example of a recent arts activity they completed at home with their child, while 60 percent provide an example of a science activity completed with their child.
The success of the program goes beyond the participation of preschoolers, teachers, parents, and initiative partners. DeVore points to PNC employees as a major contributing factor. “We give our employees up to 40 hours a year of paid time off for volunteering in the early childhood programs,” he said. “We have 95 percent of local PNC employees committing to Grow Up Great activities. So while making dollar grants are important, it’s also important to have employee participation.”
To put the company’s local employee participation in perspective, employees’ involvement in Detroit is higher than in the other 19 PNC national markets, including the District of Columbia. DeVore explained that Grow Up Great is implemented wherever PNC has a presence, and since its national inception in 2004, it has carried a $350 million investment price tag. The early education initiative through DPS has provided a model of success for other national PNC pre-K funded programs to emulate.
While DeVore remains busy as PNC regional president and chairs the local PNC Foundation, he makes time to lead by example as he volunteers each month to read to preschoolers at Schulze Elementary and Middle School on the city’s west side. “This is my third year reading,” said DeVore. “For me, it’s as good as it gets.”
For DeVore, the success of Grow Up Great is extremely gratifying as his ties to Detroit are both business and personal. “I am a Detroit native, and so is my wife,” he said. “I’ve worked for PNC in many other parts of the country, but I was thrilled to move back.”
DeVore said it’s fun to be back home and very gratifying to be an intricate part of Grow Up Great. He is excited to work with DPS and DPS feels the same way as the preschool initiative is in congruence with the school district’s five-year strategic plans for early childhood education. “Study after study have found that quality early childhood education pays dividends with improved academic success and graduation rates,” said Jack Martin, DPS emergency manager. “Quality pre-K programs help children learn to read before third grade. Grow Up Great is a critical element of our pre-K program, and we appreciate PNC for its continued commitment to the children of Detroit.”
DPS Foundation President Dr. Glenda Price agreed. “Arts and science are two of the priority areas for DPS Foundation support,” she said. “Therefore, we are especially pleased to be a partner in the Grow Up Great initiative, which fosters teacher development in these areas and in turn, provides an enhanced educational platform for future student growth.”