Salt Lake City (670 KBOI News) – Not this school year, but next, there will be another opportunity for some parents to enroll their kids in a pre-kindergarten program in Idaho.

Claudia Miner, with the Waterford Institute in Salt Lake City, says they’ve recently gotten a federal Department of Education grant to expand their software-based pre-K program to the five states that don’t have publicly-funded programs already.

She says it’s been successful in Utah.

“It uses Waterford early-learning software, and the beauty of that is it is highly individualized,” said Miner.  “So, if a child needs additional practice before moving on to another concept, they get it.  If the child learns quickly, they move more quickly.  It’s all based on how the child learns, because we want them to master concepts.”

Other than Idaho, the grant will allow Waterford’s UPSTART program to expand to Wyoming, the Dakotas, and Montana.

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