The Puget Sound Educational Services District (ESD) of Washington has been selected to receive a $275,000 No Child Left Behind grant to help improve Indian education and increase opportunities for Indian students, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced July 1.

“With these grants, we do more than ask for excellence, we provide the tools to create it,” said Secretary Spellings. “Young children will be better prepared to learn in the earliest grades. And young adults will be better prepared to succeed in the challenging fields of math and science. No Child Left Behind means exactly that. We want to open up new worlds of opportunity for Indian families and communities.”

The grant award is part of the Demonstration Grants for Indian Children program, which supports activities to prepare 3- and 4-year-old Indian children for entry into kindergarten and help secondary students achieve in core academic subjects, increase high school graduation rates and prepare students for college while preserving the native language and culture.

The Puget Sound ESD will introduce a curriculum offering help in preparing 3- and 4-year-old American Indian and Alaska Native children for kindergarten. Intensive services that meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act will be provided to assist in acquiring such skills as language, cognitive skills and social development. The program will also address classroom structure, curriculum and home environment.

More information about Indian education grants is available from the Office of Indian Education at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ods/oie/index.html.