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 Museum-Based Early Learning Center for PreK3 and PreK4 Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples (CMON) is a trusted place for child- ren to play, learn and dream. We’re proud of our impact, and we know there’s more we can do to serve our community. Since CMON opened in 2012, the school-age population in Collier County has increased by 20 percent. The county’s birth rate has grown more than 10% since 2019 and will grow by 30% in the next decade. Despite all these new young residents, we’ve lost more than 22 early learning facilities in the county since the start of the pandemic. There are 17,000 children younger than 5 in the county now, but only about 1,000 slots for high-quality early learning classes.  Our team is excited to serve this rapidly growing community by opening an Early Learning Center (ELC) serving PreK3 and PreK4 students as soon as 2026. CMON’s mission is to inspire a lifelong love of learning and explora- tion, and the ELC will provide a best-in-class, play-based curriculum for all economic backgrounds. This will be a one-of-a-kind learning environment for students to develop and to be positioned for success throughout their academic careers. Thanks to the support of Florida Senate President Kath- leen Passidomo and State Rep. Lauren Melo, we were lucky to be awarded $1.5 million in capital funding in the state budget signed by Gov. DeSantis. These funds will help jumpstart this project and cover approximately 50 percent of the construction and start-up costs for the center. CMON still needs to raise at least $1.5 million more to make this project a reality.  To learn more about CMON’s Early Learning Center and how you can help build a brighter future for our community, please connect with Jonathan Foerster at [email protected] or 239-260-1702.    |