Early Childhood Collab - Last week 26 people gathered around three long tables in the second floor library at Oak Park and River Forest High School for the first joint meeting of the three public boards that are funding the Collaboration for Early Childhood Care and Education, the Oak Park based organization that is working to improve early childhood education, especially for at risk children.
The Collaboration is funded primarily by Oak Park Elementary School District 97, OPRF District 200 and the Village of Oak Park. Those three bodies signed an intergovernmental agreement earlier this year to contribute six figure amounts each to the Collaboration for the next five years.
The boards of all three taxing bodies are required to have one annual meeting with the Collaboration's board to review progress and see what they are getting for their money.
The Collaboration is funded primarily by Oak Park Elementary School District 97, OPRF District 200 and the Village of Oak Park. Those three bodies signed an intergovernmental agreement earlier this year to contribute six figure amounts each to the Collaboration for the next five years.
The boards of all three taxing bodies are required to have one annual meeting with the Collaboration's board to review progress and see what they are getting for their money.
"It was a positive meeting and they seem to feel good about the progress
that we've made," said Carolyn Newberry Schwartz, the executive
director of the Collaboration. "The jurisdictions are engaged, they did
meet, they're monitoring our progress and implementing the plan."
Newbery Schwartz is a past board member and president of the District 97 school board.
The Collaboration is about to shift into high gear. In October it inked an agree with the Parenthesis Family Center to have Parenthesis staff members conducts home visits under a Parents as Teachers program to provide support and education to parents of young children.
And this month the Collaboration signed a five year $400,000 data collection and analysis contract with the Chapin Hall Center for Children, a Hyde Park based policy research center that focuses on children.
Newbery Schwartz is a past board member and president of the District 97 school board.
The Collaboration is about to shift into high gear. In October it inked an agree with the Parenthesis Family Center to have Parenthesis staff members conducts home visits under a Parents as Teachers program to provide support and education to parents of young children.
And this month the Collaboration signed a five year $400,000 data collection and analysis contract with the Chapin Hall Center for Children, a Hyde Park based policy research center that focuses on children.
"I don't think you could find a partner better aligned with the Collaboration," said Debbie McCann the chairperson the of the Collaboration's Measurement and Evaluation Committee.
Newberry Schwartz said that data collection and analysis are vital.
"We'll be collecting data so that we can really monitor how well services are being used, how well they're interacting with each other, the different services and systems and we'll begin to be able to gather up information to determine whether it's making a difference for the children," Newberry Schwartz said.
Good data is currently lacking McCann said.
"We don't even know how many children are in the community," McCann said.
The home visiting program conducted by Parenthesis is scheduled to begin in February.
"February is a big month," Newberry Schwartz said. "That's when the home visiting should be starting as well as other program components such as parent information and support.
"We are not a direct service provider," Newberry Schwartz said. "The only direct service we do is that we go into child care centers for vision and hearing screening. We're about building capacity."
Members of the government boards seemed pleased by the progress that the Collaboration has made towards getting started.
"I feel very good about the investment we've made," said Adam Salzman, an Oak Park village board member. "It seems to me like we're headed in the right direction."
John Phelan, the president of the OPRF District 200 Board of Education also had kind words for the Collaboration.
"The dedication is obvious and palpable and I'm glad the resources are there," Phelan said.
Anan Abu-Taleb, president of the Village of Oak Park, asked a question that was perhaps on everybody's mind.
"I'm curious about what success would look like a year from now," said Abu-Taleb. He also asked whether the Collaboration has approached the River Forest Elementary District 90 about getting that district to participate and contribute funding.
"We are planning to approach District 90," Newberry Schwartz replied. "We have not formally done so yet."
"I think we can establish effective working relationships with them," Newberry Schwartz said.
Title Post: Early Childhood Collab
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Rating: 100% based on 99998 ratings. 5 user reviews.
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THANK YOU FOR VISITING, I HOPE YOU HAPPY
