August 2025-2026 School Year – This program has been discontinued.
Community Action of Southeast Iowa has made the difficult decision not to continue the Preschool Scholarships program beyond the 2024-2025 school year. It has been an honor and a privilege to support preschools and families throughout Southeast Iowa for the past 20+ years, and this was not an easy decision to make.
The Preschool Scholarship program is designed to help make preschool affordable by reducing the financial burden on families.
Scholarships are funded by Early Childhood Iowa and administered through Community Action of Southeast Iowa and are available to qualifying families residing in Des Moines, Henry, Louisa, Muscatine, and Washington Counties
See what participating families had to say about the Preschool Scholarship Program:
- “The preschool scholarship has helped our family so much. We had been paying for our daughter to go to preschool because I find it important to start learning in a school setting as early as possible. All of my other children have benefited from it. And come to find out my daughter needs speech therapy services that the school offers. So I knew it was now even more important that she goes, but the monthly fee plus all our other bills were starting to add up. I thought we were going to have to take her out of the program. But then I received the call that we got approved for the scholarship. We are very grateful to everyone who funds the scholarship; you have helped my family out a lot. So thank you and God bless you all!” ~Anonymous parent
- “Our family greatly appreciates being a recipient of the Preschool Scholarship Program. Our family has two working parents with well-respected jobs in our community. Many would be surprised to understand how much of our income goes towards childcare. If we didn’t receive the scholarship we would have to duplicate our childcare costs as our daycare still charges us for the time my kids are in preschool. For our family, we have 3 kids in daycare and two of my children can attend preschool without us having to duplicate an expense necessary to go to work.” ~Anonymous parent
- “My family has been so blessed with the Preschool Scholarship. Without it, my son would simply not have been able to attend preschool. As a single mother who struggles to even get bills paid and food on the table, I am beyond grateful for the assistance we were able to receive. I have watched my little boy grow so much, not only academically, but mentally and emotionally he has grown with the ability to attend preschool. Without this [scholarship] program I don’t know where he would be or how far behind others he would have been at kindergarten time. Thank you for all you do!!” ~Anonymous parent
For additional information, contact Kalisha Lutz at: Kalisha.Lutz@caofseia.org
2850 Mt. Pleasant St., Suite 108
Burlington, IA 52601
(319) 753-0193