American Association of University Women and First 5 provide funds
A duo of nonprofits has given $1,750 to Corazón Healdsburg to fund a bilingual preschool fair at the Healdsburg Community Center in late January 2018.
The event is expected to bring various northern Sonoma County preschool providers together under one roof to give families from all socioeconomic backgrounds an opportunity to understand their options for early childhood education.
Specifically, a $750 grant from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and a $1,000 sponsorship from First 5 Sonoma County also will enable Corazón to provide information about free and reduced preschool tuition opportunities, extracurricular enrichment activities and kindergarten readiness. According to Ariel Kelley, board chair of Corazón, the effort is the brainchild of the organization’s Health Action Chapter, and is part of a countywide initiative to empower residents to live longer, healthier lives.
“The early years of a child’s education are critical to development,” said Kelley, who has two kids under the age of 5. “This program is one way to make sure all Healdsburg families are getting the information they need.”
Data suggests there is a need for more preschool in northern Sonoma County.
According to the READY Project, an annual First 5 Sonoma County-sponsored screening to assess kindergarten readiness, only two out of five participating kindergarteners entered school over the last two years “Ready to go.” In particular the survey revealed significant disparities by the primary language spoken at home: in 2016, roughly 46 percent of children from English-speaking households entered kindergarten “Ready to go,” compared to 25 percent from Spanish-speaking households.
Survey results indicate that preschool and transitional kindergarten both were significant factors in helping children get ready for school. Parental education, home language, and reading to kids at home were other key factors that influenced school readiness ratings.
Jenny Levine-Smith, a former nursery school director and head of Corazón Health Action Committee’s early childhood education group, said survey results underscore the reality that preschool is unaffordable for a lot of families in our community, and that preschool hours do not meet the needs of many working families.
“There are barriers to preschool programs for many families, and those barriers vary from cost, to schedule, to language, to available spaces, to general understanding about the importance of preschool,” she said. “Just imagine what might happen if we rally around our children and uplift them together.”
Barbara Epstein, AAUW member and another member of Corazon’s Health Action Chapter, agreed.
“The preschool fair can provide families with information they need to enroll their children and put Healdsburg on a path to achieving universal preschool education,” she said.
Angie Dillon-Shore, executive director of First 5 Sonoma County, added this is precisely why her organization wanted to support Corazon’s efforts to raise awareness about preschool options within the local community.
“We must continue to increase and promote access to high-quality early learning opportunities, particularly for lower-income and Spanish-speaking families,” she said.
Details for the fair were still developing as of press time, but Kelley said every aspect of the event would be bilingual, and that Corazón would provide child-focused activities in a separate space so participating parents can speak with preschool providers without worrying about tending to their kids.
Kelley added there would be some sort of keynote speaker at the January event, and that on Oct. 25 Corazón would sponsor a roundtable discussion with early childhood education providers and experts from the county about how to improve access and quality for all families in Healdsburg to preschools. Visit corazonhealdsburg.org for more details.
