Guam Preschool Development Grant

The Guam Department of Public Health and Social Services (DPHSS) Preschool Development Grant, Birth-5 (PDG B-5) is a “Systems” grant that assists the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) programs on the island in preparing young children ages Birth-5 years with school readiness skills to enter kindergarten.

The Guam Early Learning Council (GELC) is the governance body of the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) System on the island.  The GELC and PDG B5 support the programs of Guam Early Intervention System  (GEIS), Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE), Head Start, Guam Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (GEHDI), Bureau of Child Care Services (BCCS), Project Bisita I’Familia, Maternal Child Health (MCH), Family Health Information Resource Center (FHIRC), and all early childhood serving programs.  Events that are promoted and shared include Village Play Time, Jump Start to Kindergarten, and Teaching Strategies Ready Rosie virtual learning videos.  Other initiatives include the NENI-311 Help Line, the Neni Directory, ECCE calendar, trainings, outreach and support activities for families.

GELC and PDG B-5 collaborates with the Guam Public Library System in supporting the families of young children.   Early Childhood trainings such as the CDC’s Learn the Signs. Act Early are conducted at the library for service providers, parents, and caregivers to learn to track the developmental milestones of children for the early identification of concerns and special needs utilizing the LTSAE tools and resources.

Shared activities are planned with the Library Book Mobile for the early childhood programs to conduct joint outreach events for the hard-to-reach needy populations of the island.  School readiness and literacy skills are the goals for this collaborative work that will target stay at home families with children who are not in any educational setting.  

For more information, call 671-922-2579 or visit @guamelc on Facebook.