ST. ROSE — Thirty at-risk pre-school students are going to attend an intensive 12-day Summer Camp before they enter kindergarten at St. Rose Elementary this August.

Funded through a $17,749 grant from United Way of St. Charles, the camp program prepares prekindergarten students with early literacy kindergarten skills and makes the transition to kindergarten so much easier, according to Courtney Peltier and Courtney Spanolios, teachers at St. Rose Elementary.

The four- and five-year-old students will attend the camp for three hours daily and receive  expert reading instruction from a certified teacher.

Summer camp begins July 11 and continues until July 28. Bus transportation will be provided.

Cassie Washington, a St. Rose Elementary parent, knows firsthand the camp’s benefits, because her daughter attended before she entered kindergarten in 2015.

“I think it is important to have a pre-k camp at St. Rose Elementary because it provided my  daughter the foundation of transitioning into grade school,” she said.

“The camp allowed my daughter  the opportunity to strengthen her social skills and build her self-confidence.”

Washington said the camp allowed her family to be involved in the readiness of her daughter’s entry into kindergarten.

Students selected for the program were identified through Head Start, LA4, or 8g Early  Childhood classes as “at-risk” during the 2015-16 school year.

The effort hopes to increase the number of children entering kindergarten with adequate literacy development.

For more information about United Way of St. Charles, visit uwaysc.org or call 985-331-0063.