Iowa PBS announces 2022-2023 Ready for School Communities
Teacher and Students

 Iowa PBS’s commitment to early childhood education continues with the expansion of its Ready for School initiative. Educational specialists will work with educators, parents, childcare providers and local partners in several Iowa communities. They aim to implement STEM- and literacy-based activities in classrooms for children 2-5 years old. 

“Iowa PBS uses the power of technology and media to spark children’s curiosity and excite them about learning,” said Iowa PBS Director of Educational Services Ken Harrison. “Ready for School activities are designed to enhance early reading, math, science and social-emotional skills for young children. This roll-out to the 2022-2023 communities furthers Iowa PBS’s efforts to serve families across Iowa with trusted educational content.” 

Iowa PBS’s tenth year of Ready for School will focus on giving all children equal opportunity to succeed. Iowa PBS will provide access to high-quality educational media resources, including online games, instructional materials and activities. These aim to help children increase their school readiness and success. The multimedia content and related activities are based upon the work of educational children’s programming from PBS, such as The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!, Odd Squad, Molly of Denali, Peg + Cat, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood and Super WHY!.

The initiative was validated by scientifically-based research funded by the U.S. Department of Education. Ready for School has been deployed in more than 160 other Iowa communities prior to this year.

The 2022-2023 Ready for School communities are associated with the following school districts:

  • AGWSR Community School District
  • Ar-We-Va Community School District
  • Charter Oak-Ute Community School District
  • Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Community School District
  • Colo-NESCO Community School District
  • East Marshall Community School District
  • Gilmore City-Bradgate Community School District
  • Iowa Falls-Alden Community School Districts
  • Lu Verne Community School District
  • North Tama County Community School District
  • Northwood-Kensett Community School District
  • Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock Community School District
  • Southeast Valley School District
  • Stratford Community School District
  • Tripoli Community School District
  • Twin Rivers Community School District 
  • West Hancock Community School District