Mark Twain puts focus on early success of students

Located in rural eastern Taney County, Mark Twain School District faces its fair share of challenges. When it comes to providing quality education and support for parents, however, Superintendent Joe Donley does not waver.

The district recently received a $15,000 Hope Grant from Silver Dollar City Foundation to help offset the cost of a preschool aide, ensuring children aren’t turned away from the vital program due to capacity issues and parents have a safe place to send their children.

“Preschool is an important part of preparing students for kindergarten,” Donley said. “It’s important for working families who have limited daycare options. It is also important because it gives us an opportunity to recognize students with special needs and get those students resources sooner.”

The district offers full-day preschool for students age 4 and over free-of-charge to parents, but without the help of Silver Dollar City Foundation’s funding, that might not have been the case this school year.

“It’s become increasingly hard to fund preschool with the rising cost of teacher and support staff salaries and the increase in operational costs,” Donley said. “Mark Twain is a designated hold-harmless school by the state of Missouri, which means our state funding is flat and never increases.”

Over the last few years, state and federal relief funds from Covid have helped, but now those dollars are gone. In addition, the district’s enrollment jumped from 46 in 2022 to 73 last year. The grant provides the district with funds necessary to continue to have a full-time aide and not just maintain the level of preschool they have been offering, but expand it.

“By getting the Hope Grant, we are able to employ a full-time aide to help with the preschool class,” he said. “We have a certified teacher who teaches preschool and kindergarten. Without the help of the aide, the teaching would not be as effective.”

The district is also allowing students to start preschool as soon as they turn 4 years old, letting enrollment increase as the school year progresses. 

“Previously, students had to be 4 years old by Aug. 1,” he explained. “We believe that the Hope Grant has enabled us to provide preschool to more students and has also increased the effectiveness of the teaching in preschool and kindergarten.”

Despite the challenges the district faces, Donley is proud to be able to offer quality preschool services in a time when the district is having to stretch dollars.

“Preschool not only gets children familiar with letter recognition, letter sounds, and basic number counting, it provides children the experience of socialization in an academic setting with their peers,” he said. “Preschool allows children to be interactive with each other through lessons and playtime. This helps expand their imaginations while building critical thinking skills. Preschool is extremely beneficial to the lifelong process of education.”