All Michigan 4-year-olds now have access to preschool at no charge through the
Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP), including several locations in Midland County.
“There are a lot of choices for parents and what they need for their families,” says Kim Michaud, Director of the Regional Preschool Partnership. “These options include traditional school settings, faith-based locations, community centers, and even the Chippewa Nature Center where the kids are outside all of the time.”
There are 55 total classrooms, 30 in Midland County, and 25 in Gratiot and Isabella.
“We like the fact that there are so many options,” she says. The ESA manages the GSRP, facilitates its funding, and oversees the preschool consortium of Gratiot, Isabella, and Midland counties through partnerships with non-profits.
Enrollment is currently open for the 2025-26 school year. It is the first year of the program that all families, regardless of income, have access to free Pre-K although priority is given to those with a financial need.
Many have probably heard of Head Start, a federally funded program for low-income families that promotes school readiness for children from birth to age 5. According to their website, Head Start has served over 30 million children since its inception in 1965.
Michaud says, “When Michigan decided to get in the game [of preschool], they looked at where Head Start left off. Head Start takes children with the greatest need and provides some social services. GSRP takes only 4-year-olds, does not provide social services, and bases enrollment on less of a financial need.” While Head Start is federally funded, the GSRP is funded by the state.
Most GSRP classrooms, Michaud says, are using the HighScope curriculum. According to its website, this program is an “active learning approach for early childhood education that emphasizes child-centered learning . . . and engaging learning environments to foster creativity, confidence, and independence.”
The state of Michigan offers a few other curricular options for instruction in regional preschool partnership classrooms, all of which are play-based, and like HighScope, are researched and validated. The programs are a mix of free and guided play, with defined areas of interest including blocks, dramatic play, discovery, woodworking, and writing.
“What you’ll see is kids playing. In the block area, for example, you’ll see kids having fun, but there’s a whole lot of math going on," Michaud says.
In addition to overseeing the delivery of the GSRP curriculum and managing the finances, the Midland County ESA provides childhood specialists who support classroom teachers in a variety of ways. “An early childhood specialist’s role is to be a coach for the teachers in curriculum delivery and GSRP implementation,” Michaud says.
“They visit classrooms, do program assessments, and illustrate how to do various things. They get to know the teachers and their issues.” There are five specialists in the Gratiot/Isabella/Midland consortium. The specialists and the teachers have the same goals as other educators, Michaud says. “To provide a safe place to learn where social, emotional, physical and cognitive needs are being developed.”
Michaud was an Early Childhood Specialist herself before entering her current position in 2022. She says, “The earliest learners are where my heart is . . . It’s exciting to see the synapses firing in those little brains.”
Michaud says Governor Gretchen Whitmer has been instrumental in increasing funding for P-20 (Preschool through community college) programs. For this purpose, Whitmer created Mi-LEAP (the Michigan Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement, and Potential). Whitmer’s goal is to reach 75 percent of 4-year-olds statewide by the time she leaves office in 2027. Currently, Michigan has 56 percent, or 47,000 4-year-olds attending preschool. Michaud says, “Midland County is at 82 percent and is way ahead of the curve.”
Having free preschool, besides being safe and educational, gives kids the opportunity to enter kindergarten and be ready. “We try to capture a child’s interest, build on what they already know, and accommodate many different home experiences; for example, teaching kids how to hold a pencil as well as teaching those who have never seen one,” Michaud says.
“The needs of parents and families have changed over time. Today parents work, and family configurations are many. Our programming exists to accommodate that - full or half days, three or four days, whatever they need because daycare is so expensive.”
To enroll your child in the Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) in Midland County, visit
michiganpreschool.org and fill out an interest form. Or you may call 844-492-7707.