“[Waterford UPSTART’s] online program will prepare 15,000 children from needy households affected by COVID-19 and pre-k or Head Start closures for kindergarten this fall. Waterford has raised $9 million overall for Upstart; other funders include Blue Meridian and the Valhalla Charitable Foundation. The funds will help four-year-olds develop cognitive and social-emotional skills and guide them through literacy fundamentals with personalized instruction of 15 minutes per day. Parents are assigned coaches who help them engage with their children outside of online instruction. Families who lack broadband access and devices will receive them.”