GARDNER, MA – July 26, 2021 – The Adult and Community Learning Services (ACLS) unit of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has awarded Mount Wachusett Community College grant monies totaling over $1.1 million dollars to support basic skills education, occupational training, and post-secondary enrollment for adult learners in our region.

The breakdown:

$958,106 earmarked for free access for eligible undereducated and limited English proficient adults, age sixteen and older, to highly effective adult basic education services in sixteen Workforce Investment Areas.

$42,335 directed toward the Integrated Education and Training program HiSET/GED preparation with Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Training and an additional

$37,665 for the Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education program, which combines ESOL instruction and CNA training. Each program is funded to support twenty students.

The Mount received another grant in June for $150,000 for the Transition to Community College program that supports students transitioning from adult education programs to post-secondary enrollment.

According to College Officials, the purpose of these services is to assist adult students to achieve their educational and career goal as family members, workers, and community members, and prepare them to successfully take their next steps toward those goals, in college and further training, at work, and in the community.

The grant will allow MWCC Adult Education and Training division to provide Adult Basic Education to 115 students and English as a Second Language to 154 students. The Adult Education and Training (AET) Center offers classes in Adult Basic Education, high school equivalency preparation, English for Speakers of Other Languages, and a variety of other programs. The AET Center is headquartered at the Leominster campus, alongside the MassHire North Central Career Center.

MWCC President James Vander Hooven said, “Their work truly reflects the MWCC mission to be a lifelong learning community dedicated to excellence in education and responsive to the changing needs of the communities we serve.