Gunter CDC receives multi-year state grant Published Feb. 3, 2009 By Judy Crow Maxwell Support Division MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE GUNTER ANNEX, Ala. -- The Gunter Child Development Center has received an Alabama state grant of $45,000 annually for four years to fund a special pre-kindergarten class for 4-year-old students, according to Jonnie Clark, CDC director. The new class has a lower student-to-teacher ratio of 9-1 as opposed to the normal pre-K class of 12-1. Teachers will receive a higher salary since they are required to have either have a degree, or be actively working towards a degree, in early childhood education, Clark said. She added the grant will also cover a $15 discount in weekly fees for the new class. The grant can also be used for classroom supplies and field trips. Children entering this pre-kindergarten program must be age four by Sept. 2, Clark said. The program requires children to have physicals before entering the class. Clark said the state looks at the new class as a "real partnership" between parents and the classroom. She added, parents must participate in six hours of family training each year in addition to volunteering a certain number of hours each year in the child's classroom. "We must provide a minimum of 6.5 hours of care each day," Clark said, adding children are required to be in class before 8 a.m. each day. Teachers for the new class are required to attend 40 hours of training offered by the state Office of School Readiness, she said. Clark said the grant is renewable for another four years if all conditions have been met in the previous four years.