SPRINGFIELD -- The $14.4 million federal Preschool Expansion Grant the city received four years ago is saving children and family's lives, preschool leaders told Massachusetts' top early education official Friday.

Doreen Malone, of Headstart, told Ted Weber, commissioner of early education and care, told the story of a preschooler whose violent behavior and vulgar language was making it impossible for teachers to reach him.

After securing a spot at the new Early Childhood Education Center on Catharine Street, the preschool team found out that the child's mother was in an abusive relationship.

After identifying why the boy was acting out, the preschool team's parent engagement team was able to reach out to his mother and provide her with the help and services she needed to make her home safe and secure for her son.

The boy is now thriving, Malone said.

Preschool leaders said the funding has enabled them to help children like Marcus. Providing quality preschool instruction by improving preschool workers' pay, the grant has developed programs that encourage family involvement and partnerships.

Stories like the one told by Malone are common, according to the more than 30 preschool leaders who have benefited from the expansion grant that enabled Springfield to offer free preschool to 195 4-year-olds at 11 sites throughout the city for each year of the grant.

Preschool leaders shared data showing academic improvements in the children served by the expansion grant.

One teacher told of a student who came to the program from Puerto Rico, speaking no English. Within a year, he was speaking clearly in English with a phonological and math knowledge.

The funding has also helped preschool teachers advance in their careers by providing them with ongoing training and educational opportunities.

Weber said the Preschool Expansion Grant is "moving the needle with the children we are serving." He said the challenge is how to grow the program in the future, given the state's limited financial resources.

Weber urged those attending the meeting to push for funding for the program beyond the 2018-19 school year, when the funding dries up.

"You have compelling stories and data," he said.

Springfield Schools Superintendent Daniel Warwick and Mayor Domenic Sarno, who attended the meeting, underscored the need to expand quality preschool opportunities, especially for low-income families.

In praising the expansion grant, Warwick said, "We are seeing too many kids who don't have the skills they need in kindergarten," he said. "We need to redouble our efforts to make sure our kids are getting quality experiences in preschool."

In concert with the receipt of the grant, the city invested $2.8 million to turn a building it owned in the Mason Square neighborhood into the Springfield Early Childhood Education Center.

Under the initiative known as SCOOP (Springfield Cooperative Preschool), pre-school programs run by the city's public schools, Holyoke Chicopee Springfield Head Start, Square One and the YMCA of Greater Springfield each operate classrooms in the Early Education Center at 15 Catharine St.

Weber said Springfield was the ideal place to expand early education programs because of the longtime tradition of public-private partnerships in the community.

Other cities in Massachusetts expanding preschool opportunities under the grant include Boston, Lowell, Lawrence and Holyoke.