Grant Helps Open Doors to Early Learning at The Florida Center’s Starfish Academy

A $1,250 gift from the Michael Saunders Foundation will provide tuition support for families in need.

(July 12, 2025) – For young children, preschool is often the first place they begin to find their voice, build confidence, and take steps toward independence. At Starfish Academy, an innovative program offered by The Florida Center for Early Childhood, those milestones unfold in inclusive, nurturing classrooms led by skilled educators, therapists, and specialists. Thanks to a $1,250 grant from the Michael Saunders Foundation, more families with limited means will now be able to access this essential foundation for learning and growth.

“We are deeply grateful to the Michael Saunders Foundation for helping us expand access to high-quality early learning,” says Dr. Kristie Skoglund, CEO of The Florida Center. “Every child deserves the opportunity to thrive, and tuition assistance helps us keep that promise to the families who need it most.”

Skoglund explains that Starfish Academy serves children from birth to age five in sensory-sensitive classrooms that combine individualized instruction with on-site therapeutic support. The program benefits both typically developing children and those with developmental delays or behavioral challenges—laying the groundwork for lifelong learning and emotional wellbeing. In addition to preparing children for kindergarten, Starfish Academy empowers parents through a robust engagement curriculum that equips families with tools for greater stability and self-sufficiency.

“This grant reflects the Michael Saunders Foundation’s deep commitment to building stronger, more resilient families,” says Skoglund. “By supporting early learning, they’re investing in the long-term wellbeing of our entire community—starting where it matters most: with our youngest children.”

• In the VPK class at The Florida Center’s Starfish Academy’s Sarasota campus, young learners engage in interactive circle time activities that promote literacy, communication skills, and classroom connection.

About The Florida Center for Early Childhood

For more than 45 years, The Florida Center for Early Childhood has been the leading provider of therapeutic services, early education, and healthy development for young children in southwest Florida, offering a seamless delivery of services for the whole child and their family. Today, the agency is nationally recognized for its early childhood expertise in various specialties. The Florida Center provides developmental therapies, mental health counseling, Starfish Academy preschool, the Healthy Families home-visiting program, and the state’s only Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Clinic, with locations in Sarasota, Orlando and Pensacola.