Early Childhood & Community Schools Linkages Project

1. Early Childhood & Community Schools Linkages Project

2. Presenters • Kwesi Rollins, Director of Leadership Programs, Institute for Educational Leadership • Peggy Samolinski, Division Manager, SUN Service System, Multnomah County , Oregon • Paige Whalen, Quality Enhancement Initiative Coordinator, Child Care Resource Center, Tulsa, Oklahoma

3. The Challenge • Communities provide a range of EC services but they are rarely connected to K-12 system/curriculum. • Few states have achieved continuity in policies & practice between EC and schools.

4. Purpose of the Linkages Project • Linkage sites are challenged to demonstrate strategic connections between EC & CS that lead to positive results for vulnerable children—through school and into adult life. • Improve quality & continuity of practice across EC and CS through supportive policy and practice at the district and state levels. • Sustainability • Scale

5. Project Overview • Working with 3 sites • Established EC and CS initiatives respectively. • Connecting systems, services & supports and ensuring continuity of curriculum and expectations for ages 0-18 and beyond. • Framework guiding planning & implementation. • Cross-site learning, access to advisory committee, technical assistance, support & networking opportunities

6. Project Goals • Change local policies & practice to build connections between EC and CS to reach results. • Design & implement sustainable strategy that includes plans for scaling up. • Establish a clear relationship between EC & CS at state level to support scale & sustainability. • Promote scale by sharing experiences with other communities, including tribes.

7. Why Community Schools? • There’s a natural affinity - many CS are already connected to early childhood programming—Head Start, Children’s Aid Society • Already working to transform teaching & learning by creating a set of conditions in which all children can learn. • Partnerships are core to the CS strategy as is building a robust relationship w/ families & community • Promote life-long learning that begins before the grades and continues past graduation.

8. A Community School Distinction • Community Schools pay attention to the needs of young children by connecting academic success with: • Parent involvement & leadership development • Family support centers • Early childhood development programs • Coordinated health and social services • Counseling and other supports

9. Linkages Strategy Elements • Empower bi-level leadership • Organize around results • Results – Where do we want to end up? • Goals – Benchmarks on the way to results • Indicators – How will we measure progress? • Activities – How do we get there? • Use policy to improve practice • The role of intermediary – capacity for change • Focus on scale and sustainability

10. Linkage Project Action Plan • Working on multiple levels simultaneously: • Child and family • School and community • State policy • Selecting goals and indicators that leverage the strengths that already exist in their communities. • Strategically choosing & tracking activities • Evaluation – external & internal

11. Selecting Goals & Indicators • Child & Family • Children enter school physically, emotionally, cognitively and socially ready and are succeeding academically by 3rd grade. • School and Community • A results-driven, sustainable system of CS provides continuous high quality services and learning experiences from EC through the grades. • State Policy • Mutually supportive policies and practices link to early childhood systems and public education.

12. Tulsa, Oklahoma • The Linkages Project seeks to develop site/neighborhood based strategies for guiding the policies and practices of early childhood and community systems • Connect the Tulsa Community Schools model with the early care and learning system • Build upon existing strong community collaborations to provide an effective bridge between early childhood experiences and the initial school years at four Community Schools sites • Focus on creating an effective continuum of quality, including developmentally appropriate opportunities for children 0-8 in the Tulsa area

13. Partners • Tulsa Area Community Schools Initiative (TACSI) • Coalition for Community Schools at the Institute for Educational Leadership • W.K. Kellogg Foundation • Child Care Resource Center • LINK • Community Action Project (CAPTC) • Jumpstart • Family and Children’s Services • Tulsa Public Schools • Union Public Schools • Department of Human Services • Tulsa Technology Center • Area Child Care Centers and Family Child Care Homes

14. Tulsa Area Community Schools Initiative • TACSI • Provides leadership and influence to engage local communities in creating and sustaining community schools that support academic success and strengthen children, families, and communities • 18 schools within both Tulsa and Union Public School districts

15. Targeted Areas/Schools • Kendall-Whittier Elementary • Tulsa Educare • Rosa Parks Elementary • Rosa Parks Early Childhood Education Center (3) • Eugene Field Elementary • Eugene Fields Early Childhood Program (0-3) • McClure Elementary • McClure Early Head Start and Head Start (0-5)

16. Transition Specialists • Responsible for assisting families in assuring the successful transition • Provide support and technical assistance to early care and learning programs and public school entities to effectively link early childhood to the beginning years of school

17. Multnomah County, Oregon Oregon Early Childhood & Community Schools Linkage Project • Fostering Early Support and Successful Transitions in Community Schools

18. Multnomah County, Oregon • Assessing current linkages between the two systems and developing strategies to deepen partnerships: • Coordinated, Successful Transition to School • Supported, Supportive and Engages Families • Regular Attendance in Early Grades

19. Coordinated, Successful Transition to School • Kindergarten Transition Teams meet • Early Kindergarten Program • Summer kindergarten transition program • Joint training and professional development • Additional outreach efforts

20. Supported, Supportive and Engaged Families • Partnerships with early childhood efforts • Early literacy education • Parent-Child interactions groups • Early Childhood speech clinics

21. Regular Attendance in the Early Grades • Trainings and webinars addressing chronic absence in the early grades • Messaging campaign • Data administrators allow easy access to year-to-date chronic absence data through their Administrator Dashboard

22. Demonstration Sites Parklane Elementary School Centennial School District Lead Agency: Metropolitan Family Service Woodmere Elementary School Portland Public Schools Lead Agency: Impact Northwest Siletz Valley School Lincoln County School District Lead Agency: Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians

23. Local Partners • Albina Head Start • Centennial School District • Child Care Resource & Referral of Multnomah County • Children’s Institute • Impact Northwest • Multnomah Early Childhood Programs through Multnomah Education Service District • Metropolitan Family Service • Mount Hood Community College Head Start • Multnomah County Commission on Children, Families &Community • Multnomah County Library • Neighborhood House • Portland Public Schools • Portland Public Schools Head Start

24. Albuquerque, New Mexico • ABC Community Schools Partnership: • City of Albuquerque • Bernalillo County • Albuquerque Public Schools • ECAN: Early Childhood Action Network

25. Linkages Project Goals • Children are ready to learn when they enter school and everyday thereafter. All students learn and achieve to high standards. • Families and neighborhoods are safe, supportive and engaged. • Parents and community members are involved with the school and their own life-long learning.

27. Pajarito Elementary School Demographic Data • Total Enrollment: 661 • Male: 51% • Female: 49% • White, not of Hispanic origin: 8% • Hispanic: 90% • Other (Asian, American Indian): 2% • Special Education: 13% • English Language Learners (ELL): 28% • Free Lunch: 100%

28. What’s in Place? • Before and After School Programs • ESL and GED Classes for adults • Full Pre-K Program & Even-Start Programs • Character Counts and Positive Behavior Program • Parent Classes, Family Counselor and Full time Family Liaison • Nurse, Social Worker, and School Counselor Full Time on site • Breakfast in the Classroom • Road Runner Food Bank • YMCA afterschool sports programs • Health Room • Girl Scout Program • Community Garden and NMSU Nutrition Classes • Hogares and Southwest services for Families • Summer School Program • SES Tutoring Partners • Juntos Para Los Ninos

29. Contact Information: • Kwesi Rollins, Director of Leadership Programs, IEL • rollinsk@iel.org • http://www.communityschools.org/about/early_childhood__community_schools_linkages.aspx • www.iel.org • Peggy Samolinski, SUN Service System, Multnomah County, OR • peggy.l.samolinski@multco.us • www.multco.us/sun/linkage • Paige Whalen, Child Care Resource Center, Tulsa, OK • pwhalen@ccrctulsa.org • www.csctulsa.org/community_schools.htm