Five things we can’t wait to do!
As we reflect on our last five years of success, we also look eagerly to our future. Over the next year, we will revisit the PRE4CLE Plan and refresh our strategies to ensure we continue to meet our goals. Here’s a sneak peek at what’s ahead for PRE4CLE:
1
HELPING ALL PRESCHOOL PROGRAMS REACH HIGH-QUALITY BY 2025
We are excited to partner with the State of Ohio on one of their big goals: having all state-funded early childhood programs highly rated (three or more stars) by 2025. PRE4CLE’s lead agency Starting Point is partnering with preschool providers across Cleveland to meet that challenge by offering professional development, technical assistance, and other types of critical support.
2
SAYING YES TO
KINDERGARTEN
READINESS
Launched in 2019, Say Yes Cleveland is a new local organization that provides support services to Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) students from preschool through 12th grade and scholarships covering the cost of college or post-secondary tuition, after federal and state grants, to every eligible CMSD graduate. The first benchmark on the Say Yes pathway to post-secondary completion is kindergarten readiness, and PRE4CLE is proud to be leading the effort, in partnership with Say Yes Cleveland, to be the first Say Yes city to make early childhood supports from birth through age five a core part of the Say Yes strategy.
2
SAYING YES TO
KINDERGARTEN
READINESS
3
HELPING
TEACHERS
THRIVE
Teachers are the most important element of quality in a preschool classroom, but public funding for preschool does not support adequate compensation for many preschool teachers. PRE4CLE is partnering with Cuyahoga County to better understand how our community can strengthen the supports in place to attract and retain a strong early educator workforce.
4
SUPPORTING
HIGH-QUALITY PRESCHOOL
FACILITIES
In the next five years, we will be working to increase the capacity of early care and education facilities in Cleveland through new development and renovation of existing buildings for new high-quality preschools and to support existing high-quality programs to renovate their facilities.
4
SUPPORTING
HIGH-QUALITY PRESCHOOL
FACILITIES
5
FACING
RACIAL INEQUITY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
In 2018, our partners at Groundwork Ohio created the Ohio Early Childhood Race and Rural Equity Report to help us understand how race and location matters to the policies, institutions, and systems that shape the future for our children and families. In April 2019, we hosted the Cuyahoga County Early Childhood Race and Rural Equity Forum, bringing together more than 100 community members to review the report’s findings and to discuss what we can do to address racial inequity. Over the next five years, we will continue this conversation, beginning with a look at our own organization, and then working to support the early childhood community on the same path.