February 24, 2020
Community Learning Center Institute’s innovative practices in aligning Pre-Kindergarten to Kindergarten were featured at the National Association for the Education of Young Children 2020 Public Policy Forum on February 24 in Arlington, Va. The NAEYC Public Policy Forum is NAECY’s premier policy and advocacy event.
Angela Farwig, CLCI’s Director of Early Childhood presented, together with Laura Bornfreund and Aaron Loewenberg of New America, on the topic of “Supporting the Prek to K Transition Across Early Learning Settings.”
Farwig highlighted the innovative work she is leading with the support of a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Leveraging Cincinnati’s nationally acclaimed community learning center model, Farwig is facilitating the development of neighborhood public schools as hubs of partnerships for families of children 0-5.
Community learning center partners, including school-based health centers, vision centers, dental clinics, and housing and employment services, provide additional supports for families of young children. These supports, together with early childhood education, maximize healthy development and stable environments which are essential to kindergarten readiness. Early childhood resource coordinators, another unique part of the model, are devoted to ongoing outreach to young families to facilitate and support their connection to the community learning center.