[Lakeland, FL] – [8/21/2023] – Mi Escuela Montessori recently received a $10,000 Impact Polk grant on behalf of the George W. Jenkins Fund within GiveWell Community Foundation (GWCF). This grant will support Mi Escuela Montessori’s Brain-building Beginnings: Birth to Three Scholarship Program. The funding is part of GWCF’s recent Impact Polk 2023 grant cycle, which awarded a total of $750,523 to 90 nonprofit organizations. Impact Polk is GWCF’s annual competitive, donor-directed grant program with the goal of addressing community needs throughout Polk County. Impact Polk grants often support a broad range of needs, such as animal welfare, arts and culture, education, and health and human services. To learn more about this grant cycle, please visit impactpolk.org.
The Impact Polk funds awarded will provide scholarships for infant, toddler or three-year-old students who qualify for subsidized child care through the School Readiness Program of the Early Learning Coalition of Polk. Families must have an income below the poverty line and must be working or in school for at least 20 hours a week. The School Readiness voucher will determine what co-pay the family can financially afford to pay and will subsidize the balance, however because the voucher only covers 62% of the tuition. The scholarship will cover the balance. The Brain-building Beginnings: Birth to Three Scholarship Program was developed to support low-wage earning families in providing a quality educational foundation for their children. The dual language program at Mi Escuela Montessori is a learning-based, bilingual, language-rich program with a well-supported educational approach to helping young children acquire fundamental skills and abilities and hitting developmental milestones on time. Students are taught independence and self-care. They are supported in developing motor skills and vocabulary in both English and Spanish. They are in a warm and nurturing environment with a low ratio of adults to children. About the GiveWell Community Foundation GiveWell Community Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity serving Polk, Hardee, and Highlands counties in Central Florida. The Community Foundation holds more than 380 charitable funds established by individuals, families, organizations, and private foundations and serves a wide variety of charitable services. Its mission is to champion charitable giving to improve the quality of life in the areas it serves, both now and for future generations. For more than 25 years, GiveWell Community Foundation and its fund holders have been investing in the future of our communities through impactful, philanthropic giving.  A huge thank you to Luv Bug Productions for their donation of 90 school supply kits! The kits, containing notebooks, paper, markers, scissors, crayons, colored pencils, pencils, sharpeners, erasers, folders, index cards and more, will be shared with students in grades Preschool through 6th grade.
The mission of Luv Bug Productions is to entertain, inspire, educate and remind the community of their culture, family values and togetherness by uniting the community with music entertainment. They provide free music entertainment throughout Polk County and the Central Areas of Florida, working with local musicians, dancers, DJ’s and well known artists. This gives us the opportunity to bring entertainment to areas that are deprived, which will bring communities together that big cities enjoy on a regular basis.  Grant Aims to Support Local Youth Literacy
[Lakeland, FL] – [8/17/2023] – The Dollar General Literacy Foundation recently awarded Mi Escuela Montessori a $3,500 grant to support its youth literacy efforts. The funding is part of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation’s recent award of nearly $2.6 million across the country to support more than 300,000 students attending more than 600 schools, libraries and nonprofit organizations in the communities Dollar General calls home. The funds awarded will expand the Spanish book library at Mi Escuela Montessori and will ensure that families of children who are Spanish speaking are able to access high quality literature in their native language. The program aims to support families in developing strong literacy practices at home and in school. “We are proud to award these grants to literacy and education programs across the country and support their meaningful work of expanding children’s joy of reading and creating a foundation for future educational growth,” shared Denine Torr, executive director of the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. “We are excited to make a difference in thousands of students’ lives through these donations and look forward to making more positive impacts as we celebrate the Foundation’s 30th anniversary year.” The Dollar General Literacy Foundation supports organizations that increase access to educational programming, stimulate and enable innovation in the delivery of educational instruction and inspire a love of reading. Each year, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation awards funds to nonprofit organizations, schools, and libraries within a 15-mile radius of a Dollar General store or distribution center to support adult, family, summer, and youth literacy programs. The Foundation also offers a student referral program for individuals interested in learning how to read, speak English, or prepare for the high school equivalency exam. Referrals to a local organization that provides free literacy services are available online here or through referral cards found in the Learn to Read brochures that are available at the cash register of every Dollar General store. About the Dollar General Literacy Foundation The Dollar General Literacy Foundation is proud to support initiatives that help others improve their lives through literacy and education. Since 1993, the Foundation has awarded more than $238 million in grants to nonprofit organizations, helping more than 19.6 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy, a general education diploma or English proficiency. Each year, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation provides financial support to schools, nonprofit organizations and libraries within a 15-mile radius of Dollar General stores and distribution centers. To learn more about the Dollar General Literacy Foundation or apply for a literacy grant, visit www.dgliteracy.org. Mi Escuela Montessori is requesting bids from vendors for its school breakfast, lunch and snack program. Please see attached for more details. 
Question: Are there any equipment or small wares being requested by the location?
Response: I am usure what should be defined as small wares. However, please check the RFP timeline for site visit dates. Feel free to do an assessment of the smallwares and equipment availability. Also refer to the RFP vendor responsibility page to secure an understanding accordingly. Question: Is this site accepting "Bulk Meals" for the 2023-24 school year? Response: Yes, we prefer to maintain the current meal delivery type Question: Is this a public Bid opening? Response: Yes, see RFP Timeline outline. Mi Escuela Montessori is requesting bids from vendors for its school breakfast, lunch and snack program. Please see attached for more details.
Answers to Questions:
1. You've stated before that the bid needs to include us providing heating for example heating warmer trays to keep the product hot. Are we also providing refrigeration for beverage? The proposal must narrate how you will maintain the meals for service. The RFP is requesting the vendor to provide all equipment necessary to fulfill service. 2. With the service of the food are we just delivering and services being provided for the food or are we also should provide individuals for services? We are not contracting a management service. The vendor contract involves delivery of meals only. All services personnel will be provided by the school. See RFP. 3. Can you also please let us know what all is included for example in our delivery of the meals on a daily basis? I believe the numbers could change according to the RFP therefore 168 students may not be 168 students so we would be told that at what time the day before or should we be planning on cooking for 168 students on a daily basis? The response must be written for 168 students. We cannot speak to an increase at this time. Daily orders will reflect the numbers . See RFP. 4. What also should be provided? Utensils, plastic ware as well as the serving trays that the food is going to be served on? Can a list be provided as to what also is needed to be provided in the bid? Your response should identify your service quality and style. This includes "providing all necessary equipment". 5. Invoices are to be turned in every two weeks in accordance with the RFP as well as in accordance with the 41-day rule via the national school lunch program guidelines. Is there any preparation that can assist if needed to pay the vendor ahead of schedule? There is no contingency for payment to be made prior to service. Please see the RFP. 6. Can you also give a breakdown off the demographics of the students because we would like to structure the meals compositions so folks could have not just a variety but very similar to what they know and still fall into the guidelines of the national school lunch program. We are not able to provide the demographics in preparation for a contract. Mi Escuela Montessori is requesting bids from vendors for its school lunch program. Please see attached for more details.
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Kelly De La CruzFounder and Board President of Mi Escuela Montessori Archives
October 2023
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