Piedmont Community Actions has received a $536,000 grant to start a new Head Start preschool program in Cherokee County.

The school district is working on a partnership agreement with Head Start so it can serve an additional 52 children in need of early childhood services.

The district is in the process of locating a school site and determining what resources are needed to support the grant in county schools, assistant superintendent Dr. Linda Sellars said. A partnership agreement will be presented to the school board for approval at a later date.

The district is presently looking at housing the Head Start program in the Cherokee Community Learning Center. The grant will allow the district to provide classes for 32 infants and toddlers as well as 20 children in a 4- year-old kindergarten program.

"This grant should be good for the community and the school district," Sellars said. "It would allow us to serve 20 students currently on a waiting list to be served in our 4-year-old kindergarten programs. It would also increase services offered to preschool children from birth to 3-years-old."

The school district was unable to serve some preschool children in kindergarten programs this school year with its new designation as a Title 1 district, Sellars said. Title 1 is a federally funded program which requires school districts to serve students in the highest risk categories.

The Cherokee County School District staff will be working with a familiar face in the Head Start partnership. Former Cherokee County school superintendent Dr. Willie Ross has worked with Head Start for several years as a consultant with Piedmont Community Actions in Spartanburg.

Cherokee County was forced to scale back its kindergarten classes from 22 to 14 classes this school year due to school funding cuts.

The district had explored the partnership with Head Start in recent months so it could serve additional children in early education programs, Sellars said. The school district's participation in the grant is dependent on the school board approving the Head Start partnership agreement.