Current Issues & Articles
March 24 2010
Our Economy Depends on Investing Early In Children
THIS YEAR, policy makers in Virginia have been forced to make hard choices. We are experiencing the most serious and sustained revenue reductions in generations. Many of our early childhood education programs barely survived this budget cycle, and we are not out of the woods yet. To address our current issues and prepare for our economic future, we must enact smart policies and prioritize programs that have proven results for all state spending. South Hampton Roads has made progress in preparing children for success in school. In 2004, one in five of our region’s kindergartners needed remedial help when they entered school. Now, only one in eight needs that remediation.
CLICK HERE to read the full article by Lisa Howard.
March 24 2010
Local Preschools Scooping Up Stars
Virginia’s Star Quality Initiative impacts over 8,000 children in our region by improving the quality of local child care centers. South Hampton Roads leads the state by having the highest level of participation in the Quality Rating Improvement System with more than 78 centers already involved.
Today’s Virginian Pilot featured the first two preschools in our region to earn a four-star rating from Virginia’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). As one of 78 local centers participating in QRIS in our region, Simonsdale Presbyterian Preschool and the JCOC Oceanfront Head Start Center are shining examples of high-quality early care and education that are supported and recognized through participation in QRIS.
Click HERE to read the full article.
January 08 2010
View the Video channel of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation
Video channel of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation
Providing leadership to Virginia’s Smart Beginnings initiative and advancing school readiness throughout the Commonwealth.
September 09 2009
2009 Community Connections Resource Guide Now Available!
Download and distribute the Community Connections Resource Guide (PDF)
August 17 2009
Pre-K students’ readiness to read improves
South Hampton Roads kindergartners are beginning school better prepared to learn how to read, according to state test results. Educators attribute the gains to added slots in the state’s prekindergarten program and a push for early childhood education in recent years. More parents are pursuing preschool programs and stressing academics prior to kindergarten, they say.
Click here for full article
July 20 2009
Ratings give day care room for improvement
The front page of the Virginian-Pilot recently featured an article on the state’s new quality rating and improvement system.
Ratings give day care room for improvement
June 07 2009
Pilot Article: What opponents of universal preschool miss
The June 7 edition of The Virginian-Pilot carried an editorial by Smart Beginnings Executive Director Lisa Howard. The editorial responded to a recent article in the Washington Post and reprinted in The Virginian-Pilot which questioned the need for early childhood education for anyone except children living in poverty. Click HERE to read her response and to pick up some great reasons for early childhood education for all children.
October 23 2008
Parents Will Have New Tool for Rating Child Care Centers
Grant will allow Child Care Centers in South Hampton Roads to be among the first in the state to receive published ratings.
February 11 2008
Business Leaders Rally Around Cause: Smart Beginnings Emphasizes Importance of Early Education
Norfolk—Early Childhood Business Advisory Council convened.
View full article: Business Leaders Rally Around Cause Inside Business February 11, 2008
February 10 2008
A Military Perspective on Preschool
NORFOLK—Retired Vice Admiral Jim Metzger shares his view of the debate over funding the proposed expansion of the Virginia Preschool Initiative.
View full article: A Military Perspective On Preschool The Virginian Pilot February 10, 2008
November 26 2007
Why Pre-K Counts
NORFOLK—Pre-K is not glorified daycare.
View full article: Why Pre-K Counts The Virginian Pilot November 26, 2007
September 14 2007
Rating System for Preschool to be Tested in Hampton Roads
Some preschool programs in South Hampton Roads will be among more than 100 across the state to test a quality rating and improvement system for child care providers.
View full article: Rating System for Preschools The Virginian Pilot September 14, 2007
July 04 2007
Navy to expand day care options
by Amy Jeter. The Virginian-Pilot.
Local Navy child care centers will more than double their capacity as part of the service’s largest ever expansion of its day care offerings.
Three of the region’s seven centers are being replaced and expanded, and three new centers will be added, to increase the number of children served to 2,113 from 957. Worldwide, the Navy hopes to expand its child development center program to 17,000 children from 14,000.
The Hampton Roads effort is expected to cost $50 million.
The construction comes as a national study lauded the U.S. Department of Defense for having higher standards for child care providers, and stricter oversight, than any other state.
“Family readiness is critical to our Navy’s readiness,” said Greg Young, manager of the Navy’s child and youth programs.
March 05 2007
Workforce Development Begins Early: Smart Beginnings SHR is Putting Together a Business Council
by Mary Worrell. Inside Business—Hampton Roads
A 2005 report on the economic impact of the childcare and early education industry in South Hampton Roads made it clear to those in the business and education communities that early care is essential to a productive workforce.
The report, commissioned by Smart Beginnings South Hampton Roads, stated that the childcare and early education industry provides more than 5,400 jobs in South Hampton Roads and generates more than $206 million in gross receipts annually.
February 05 2007
Back to School for Day Care
by Amy Jeter. The Virginian-Pilot.
Pillows and miniature sofas create a cozy corner for the young pupils at Kids Kollege Learning and Child Care Center in Chesaoeake. Pictures of them and their families are posted on the walls. Mirrors hang at their level.
Carole Whitener helped the children’s teacher makes all these changes. “Initially, her room pretty much had everything around the edge,” said Whitener, who heads the early childhood program at Tidewater Community College’s Chesapeake campus. “We tried to declutter and organize it.”
October 30 2006
Waiting and Ready for Preschool
by Amy Jeter. The Virginian-Pilot. Monday, October 30, 2006
Early education can help children succeed—academically and socially—but there aren’t enough preschools in the region to admit every student. Often, it’s the average family whose students are left at home.
Grant to Help Educate Head Start Teachers
NORFOLK—Head Start teachers could become some of the best-educated preschool providers in South Hampton Roads during the next five years, thanks to a federal grant.
View full article: Grant To Help Educate Head Start Teachers The Virginian Pilot November 5, 2007
Did You Know?
- 90% of a child’s brain is developed by the age of 5.
- 78% of parents of children under 6 in South Hampton Roads work outside the home, and must find care for thier children.
- 1 in 8 children in our region arrives at kindergarten not ready.
- Children who start school behind tend to stay behind.
- Nationally, 49% of children arriving at school unprepared come from middle and upper income families.
- 18% of kindergartners held back in Virginia live in South Hampton Roads.
- Holding back a child in kindergarten adds almost $8,000 to the public cost of that child’s education.
- 3rd grade reading level is a powerful predictor: for those who fail the 3rd grade reading test, half will also fail the 5th grade.
- In fact, 62% of Virginia’s students cannot read proficiently by the end of 3rd grade.
- A working, middle class family, with two young children, will spend on average 29% of their income on child care.
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