The Care Foundation announced $3,006,000 in grants, most of it to prekindergarten programs Tuesday.

The series of three-year grants will help prekindergarten programs in Springdale, Bentonville and Rogers, and a Samaritan Community Center program to feed middle school children. The Care Foundation is the educational arm of Endeavor Foundation.

The Samaritan Community Center grant of $90,000 will help pilot a middle school program, said Anita Scism, president and chief executive officer of Endeavor Foundation.

Middle School Mini Meals will launch this fall, said Mary Mann, director of community relations for the center.

There are 95 elementary schools and Head Start centers in the Snack Pack for Kids program through the Samaritan Community Center, but adding middle schools will be a first, Mann said.

There will be 400 packs a week distributed through Springdale middle schools during the first year of the program, she said.

"It's a big deal," Mann said.

Springdale also was awarded $1,458,000 for a 100-seat expansion to their prekindergarten program, Scism said.

Prekindergarten programs have a great value to the community, Scism said.

"It's really practical to getting kids started off in life," she said.

The gift from the Care Foundation will allow Springdale to enroll 1,040 prekindergarten students, said Rick Schaeffer, Springdale School District spokesman.

About 400 of those children will attend school at the Early Childhood Center, but with space limited there, three 20-student classes will meet at George Junior High School, two classes at Southwest Junior High School and another will be at J.O. Kelly Middle School, Schaeffer said.

"There's still going to be a waiting list because it's a great program," Schaeffer said.

Bentonville was awarded $874,800 for a 60-seat expansion to their prekindergarten program.

An expansion to the Bentonville program is pending approval from the School Board, said Deb Kee, director of early childhood for Bentonville schools.

The addition will enhance the program's 280 seats, and help more children have a better chance of success in school, she said.

Rogers was awarded $583,200 that will pay for a 40-seat program. The money will allow Eastside and Russell Jones elementary schools programs to stay open this fall, said Virginia Abernathy, assistant superintendent for elementary curriculum and instruction. A 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant paid for both prekindergarten classes, but it ended with the school year.

State public school money is for kindergarten through 12th grades, Abernathy said. It cannot be used for prekindergarten. A state grant called Arkansas Better Chance pays for some early childhood programs.

Prekindergarten in Rogers is open only to students with family incomes below poverty level, Abernathy said. Those children are at risk for not being successful at school, she said.

Prekindergarten helps a child's social skills, but also helps them know what numbers and letters look like.

"They've been reading to for a year. They've worked on a computer," she said of prekindergarten classes.

Children who are learning English, get instruction at prekindergarten in English. There are children who start the year not knowing the front from the back of a book or that they're holding it upside down, she said.

Lessons taught in kindergarten 20 years ago have been moved into prekindergarten classes, Abernathy said. The children have the capacity to learn, but they need the lessons.