Winter Newsletter 
Starting Strong Working Towards Universal Access to Pre-K in Portland

Providing universal access to Pre-Kindergarten is an important strategy to ensure that all students are ready for Kindergarten and on track to read proficiently by 3rd grade. In November, the Portland Board of Education approved a resolution to expand the number of public Pre-K classrooms over the next five years.  Over the past two months, Starting Strong has worked closely with Portland Public Schools and other stakeholders to help the school board explore different potential pathways for implementing that expansion.  Through a series of public workshops with the Curriculum Committee of the school board, Starting Strong facilitated a comparison of three approaches: 1) expansion through new Portland Public Schools classrooms, 2) expansion through a mix of Portland Public Schools and community partner classrooms, or 3) expansion through a partnership with The Opportunity Alliance/Head Start to coordinate classrooms at a variety of locations.  At their February 6 meeting, the Curriculum Committee voted unanimously to recommend the 2nd approach to the full board.  The board will consider that recommendation at their February 26 meeting and is expected to make a final decision at their March 5 meeting.


Reading Partners Expanded to Six Schools: Volunteers Needed

Since 2015 Starting Strong has supported the Reading Partners programs throughout Portland. In large part due to great Community Coordinators, passionate Literacy Coaches and dedicated Volunteers, students that have struggled to meet benchmark reading levels are now meeting and exceeding those levels. As a result of this success Starting Strong has expended the program from three to six schools for 2019 and is seeking volunteers to read one-on-one with a first grader. Training is provided upon becoming a volunteer. If you ever wanted to have an impact on the success of children this program is the way to do it. Contact Justin at Starting Strong so he can get you in contact with the right person from one of the six locations.

Our Updates
Leadership Team 

Starting Strong's Leadership Team plays a critical role helping to govern our partnership. In 2018, we received an Early Childhood Community Planning grant from the Maine Community Foundation, which has enabled us to work with community partners to develop a Community Profile of our birth-age three population.  This profile gathers key data to help community stakeholders assess the well-being of young children in Portland.  Over the months to come, Starting Strong will be engaging partners to identify what action is needed to improve the well-being of our youngest residents.

Pre-K to Grade 3 Literacy

Since 2015 Starting Strong has supported the Reading Partners programs throughout Portland. In large part due to great Community Coordinators, passionate Literacy Coaches and dedicated Volunteers, students that have struggled to meet benchmark reading levels are now meeting and exceeding those levels. As a result of this success Starting Strong has expended the program from three to six schools for 2019 and is seeking volunteers to read one-on-one with a first grader. Training is provided upon becoming a volunteer. If you ever wanted to have an impact on the success of children this program is the way to do it. Contact Justin at Starting Strong so he can get you in contact with the right person from one of the six locations.
 
School Readiness

Starting Strong has extended Talking is Teaching partnerships to new community organizations throughout Portland in hopes of improving literacy preparation for birth-3 year old children by encouraging parents and caregivers to talk, read, and sing to their infants and toddlers.  The city-wide campaign has engaged new partners, such as WIC and Children's Odyssey, and offered media supplies such as Talking is Teaching posters in multiple languages and books for children to sites including the Chestnut Street Family Shelter and General Assistance office. 

Summer Literacy

In 2018, Starting Strong continued to facilitate the Summer Readers Program at North Deering Gardens and Unity Village with the help of Portland Rotary Club and United Way of Greater Portland. This committed group of volunteers as well as a great group of kids met weekly for lunch, a read-aloud and free book. The North Deering Gardens outcomes were very positive with 81 participants of which 70%  returned each week. There were 26 committed Rotarian volunteers. Unity Village, a new site, had ten Summer Readers and with three United Way volunteers.


Featured Work: Early Childhood Learning Series
Starting Strong and Westbrook Children's Project have been co-facilitating the Early Childhood Learning series together since last year. Each year a series of workshops are offered on the second Tuesday of each month from January until May. The program and workshops are designed to offer high quality educational workshops in the fields of early childhood development and are targeted for childcare providers who are below step 3 on the  QRIS  ratings system and may not have as much funding for professional development.



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Starting Strong  |  Portland ConnectED
207.874.1000  |   ksoucy@portlandconnected.org