Research shows that low-income preschoolers enrolled in full-day preschool programs are more prepared for kindergarten than their peers in half-day programs. Thanks to a $100,000 gift from Prairie Meadows and the W.T. and Edna M. Dahl Family Trust, more Des Moines-area preschoolers will be able to get this kind of jump-start on success through the Oak Academy program located at the Oakridge Neighborhood of Des Moines. “We are grateful for the investment in the futures of kids by these two organizations,” says Teree Caldwell-Johnson, CEO of Oakridge Neighborhood, a provider of housing and wraparound services for more than 1,000 residents. “Oak Academy Scholars funding provides scholarships to children, enabling them to gain maximum time in the preschool setting while also allowing parents time to sustain their employment, employment search or education uninterrupted.” The state-licensed preschool, accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, has provided quality early learning services to high-poverty children in the neighborhood since the early 1980s.