Should you be more involved in your child’s school? State just got $5 million to help.

Kentucky is one of 11 states to receive a $5 million federal grant distributed over five years to open centers to help parents become more involved with their children’s local school and overall education, Prichard Committee officials announced Friday.

The new Kentucky Statewide Family Engagement Center, led by the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence, will be based in Lexington.

At the same time, regional Family Engagement Centers will open at Berea College to serve Eastern Kentucky, at Children, Inc. in northern Kentucky, and at the National Center for Families Learning in the Louisville area, said Brigitte Blom Ramsey, executive director of the Prichard Committee.

In addition to helping families directly, the center will provide training and technical assistance to educational agencies, schools and community-based organizations.

“Research shows that parent involvement in their student’s education can make a significant difference in student achievement,” Ramsey said.

“The beauty of this program is that it recognizes families are an essential support, especially for young people from Appalachian Kentucky,” Dreama Gentry, executive director of Partners for Education said in a news release. “We know from our work over the last 20 years that engaging parents and children at the same time is the surest path to educational success, often for both generations.”