To help keep children from falling behind in school, the Martin Luther King Center in Rock Island will host a special child care program this fall.
Executive Director Jerry Jones says the center will have computers and staff available to help kids keep up with their remote learning in the Rock Island schools.
"We're targeting kids within a one mile radius of the Martin Luther King Center especially because these areas typically have been disadvantaged and have some real challenges with meeting, not just economic but educational milestones and benchmarks that are important for their development."
Remote learning help will be available from 8:30 am to 2 pm each day, with an after-care program, including food and activities, from 2 to 5 pm.
Jones says the staff of the King Center already has a lot of experience working with children, but he will have to hire some new workers for the program.
"As a parent myself I know that around 3th or 4th or 5th grade my skill set could not match what was needed by my kids because of changes in education since I was there. So we really value those who have a specialty in 3rd grade, 4th grade, and 5th grade math."
The local non-profit literacy organization Spring Forward will help the King Center run the remote learning and child care program.
Registration is now open and available just by calling the center, and the program will start in two weeks (9/14).
