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HUNDREDS OF CITY LEADERS, EDUCATORS,
PARENTS AND
COMMUNITY LEADERS STAGE CITYWIDE
CONFERENCE ON SCHOOL READINESS IN THE DISTRICT
WASHINGTON–– Washington’s three-to
four-year-old children are the focus of a major conference
Saturday at the University of the District of Columbia,
to ensure that all of the District’s children
entering kindergarten are ready to learn.
The Universal School Readiness Stakeholders,
the National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI),
and its SPARK-DC project, the DC Department of Human
Services, Office of Early Childhood Development, the
Early Childhood Leadership Institute, the DC Public
Schools, Office of Citywide Early Childhood Initiatives,
and the Department of Health’s Maternal and Family
Health Administration are co-sponsoring a daylong meeting
on Saturday, May 1st on steps to take to insure universal
school readiness for the District’s children.
The 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. series of meetings and
workshops will be held at the University of the District
of Columbia (UDC), 4200 Connecticut Avenue, NW.
“The workshops will offer tools
and resources and materials for parents, for educators,
for administrators that will help them to strengthen
children’s early learning, and especially their
early literacy skills, because as we know, literacy
is really a foundation for all other learning,”
said Andrea Young, NBCDI.
The opening session of 800 city leaders,
educators, parents, and community leaders is scheduled
from 9:00 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. in the UDC Auditorium
and will feature addresses on school readiness in the
District.
The daylong conference will also include
workshops on early literacy, parenting tips, social-emotional
development and the transition from early care and pre
school to kindergarten. Parents of children transitioning
from pre school to kindergarten will receive a special
back pack for their child filled with suggested summer
activities and materials. Speakers include Lori E. Parker,
Deputy Mayor, Children, Youth, Families, and Elders;
Peggy Cooper Cafritz*, President, Board of Education;
Kevin Chavous, Chair, DC Council Committee on Education,
Parks and Libraries; Sandy Allen, Chair, DC Council
Committee on Health and Human Services; Mary Gill of
the DC Public School system; and Dr. A. Knighton Stanley
of the Peoples Congregational Church, who will deliver
the keynote address for the conference (*invited).
The Universal School Readiness Stakeholders
Group began in January 2003 to move the District of
Columbia community toward universal access to early
care and education for all three-and four-year-olds.
Stakeholders meet monthly to develop a citywide consensus
on school readiness and learning standards for all four-year-olds
to insure that all children enter kindergarten ready
to learn.
Communities in the District
of Columbia Join in National School Readiness Initiative
10:00 a.m., Thursday, October 9, 2003
Washington, DC—The National Black
Child Development Institute (NBCDI), District officials,
the public schools, community leaders and parents have
joined together to launch an innovative, collaborative
early education project targeted at young children from
some of Washington’s most challenged low-income
neighborhoods.
The $4 million multi-year early education
pilot project being unveiled is funded by the W.K. Kellogg
Foundation. It will involve hundreds of young District
children, aiming to work with the public school system,
parents and city government agencies to initiate a groundbreaking
program that can serve as a model for the entire District,
providing both quality early education and school readiness.
“We know from many studies that quality, affordable
and accessible early earning opportunities for the District
of Columbia’s youngest children help them prepare
for school, ready to learn. Scientific research shows
that children begin their learning process in the years
before kindergarten,” said Evelyn Moore President
of NBCDI. “We also know that accessible and affordable
early learning resources throughout the District help
working families and parents who often struggle to stay
in the workforce because of lack of early care facilities.
Working parents can't work if their young children do
not have early care and learning opportunities available
to them in their neighborhoods.”
cont>>
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Other Press:
WUSA
TV 9
The
Kellog Foundation
(pdf)
For More
Information Contact:
Andrea Young (202) 833-2220
Barbara Ferguson Kamara (202) 727-1839
>>
The pilot early education project includes:
- Calvary Bilingual Multicultural Center and Tubman
Elementary School
- Kenilworth Parkside and Kenilworth Elementary School
- Frederick Douglass II Center and Turner Elementary
School
The key agencies that work with young children are
- The Office of Early Childhood Development in the
Department of Human Services
- The Office of Citywide Early Childhood Initiatives
in DC Public Schools
- The Office of Education Services in the Department
of Parks and Recreation
- The Office of Maternal and Family Health Administration
the Department of Health
These agencies have come together
with community leaders in SPARK DC. We need more resources
to serve young children and this project will help us
pilot ways to maximize the resources we do have to improve
school readiness,” says Barbara Kamara, Director
of the Office of Early Childhood Development.
The project, called DC SPARK, intends
to provide stepped-up school readiness through programs
that service District children ages 3 to 6, providing
early learning settings that stress quality early education
teachers, emphasizing comprehensive child development
and readiness skills that are located at community sites
so that both parents and providers are encouraged to
be involved in the pilot program. In addition, DC SPARK
seeks to coordinate with the District's public school
system to insure that the schools are ready for young
kids with effective transition practices.
"I am so very pleased the Kellogg
Foundation chose the District of Columbia for this initiative.
It will move us closer to my long term goal to insure
that quality preschool education is available to all
children beginning at age three. I believe that SPARK
DC can be an important catalyst for improving school
readiness for our children and building community will
around early education." said Kevin Chavous, Chair
of the DC Council Committee on Education, Libraries
and Recreation.
“In the end, we expect measurable
progress in the future alignment and coordination between
early care providers, public schools and working parents.
We hope that working parents in our project will be
better advocates for their children's education and
we hope to better prepare young children in the pilot
program to enter school ready to learn,” declared
Andrea Young, Vice President and SPARK DC Project Director.
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