MONTEREY >> Only 30 organizations throughout California were selected as recipients of a grant targeting early math and science education. Monterey Peninsula Unified School District is one of them.

The $350,000 Count Play Explore Professional Learning and Coaching Grant will provide districts with funding to deepen early mathematics and science education, what are considered to be foundational areas for early childhood. The grant will run through December 2027.

“Count Play Explore is more than a grant,” said Cresta McIntosh, associate superintendent of educational services, in a news release. “It’s a statewide movement to strengthen California’s early education systems through collaborative learning, coaching and shared innovation. MPUSD is honored to be a part of this impactful work.”

The grant is administered by the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools. Monterey Peninsula Unified was chosen from a pool of 185 applicants. The grant award was first distributed in April. Additional disbursements will be every July for the next three years.

The local educational agencies (including districts, charter schools and county offices of education) chosen for the grant are dedicated to providing “professional development, coaching and technical assistance to the early care and education workforce,” according to the release.

“Early childhood education lays the groundwork for lifelong learning,” said McIntosh. “Being selected for the Count Play Explore Cohort underscores MPUSD’s commitment to high-quality early learning and our efforts to equip educators with the tools and training needed to spark curiosity, problem-solving and critical thinking in our youngest students.”

The grant offers support for preschool through third grade classrooms to integrate STEM into lesson plans as well as a way to involve the community in their kids’ education. Monterey Peninsula Unified will focus on deepening early learning coaches and facilitators’ expertise and training in STEM subjects as well as leveraging community resources to support in-class and at-home learning.

The focus on early childhood is strategic, since math and science tend to be the biggest struggles for students, according to Tia Robinson, coordinator of elementary and early childhood education.

“We all know math is a hard subject for most people and science is too,” said Robinson, “so we just want to expose them as early as possible, so that they’re successful throughout their educational career.”

A group of educators participating in the grant attended a week-long professional development session in Fresno recently to learn how to implement new STEM-related activities in their communities.

Monterey Peninsula Unified educators left the training with ideas for hosting STEM nights and workshops for families that will show them activities they can do at home with their students. Schools will also provide materials and support for families to be able to continue learning at home, according to Robinson.

“We’re trying to leverage our community resources and just implement and plan to support our earliest learners,” said Robinson. “We just want to expose them as early as possible to math, science, art (and) computer science, and this grant gives a lot of strategies and a lot of tools to work on those areas.”