Latest News
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It is worth noting when the nation’s top central banker talks about things besides interest rates and inflation, and earlier this month Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke took time to urge state policymakers to continue investing in early childhood education. Click here to read more...
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Transitional Kindergarten at Washington Elementary School:
Getting Kids Ready for Success in SchoolBeginning this fall, Washington Elementary School opened a new classroom for 25 of the district’s youngest kindergarteners, providing them with an extra year of preparation before kindergarten to develop the skills that will help them succeed in elementary school and beyond. The program at Washington Elementary, called Transition Kindergarten, is part of a pilot program being offered through the Kingsburg Elementary Charter School District in Fresno County, and will allow children additional time to mature socially, emotionally, cognitively and physically in the year before kindergarten. Children in the Transition Kindergarten class will benefit from focused instruction and hands-on activities that encourage them to develop skills and concepts at their own pace. The new class will emphasize language, pre-literacy and early math instruction to build a foundation for future learning.
Click here for more information on Transitional Kindergarten.
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Early Learning Advocacy Day was held in Sacramento on July 15 and is being hailed as a great success, with more than 350 early learning supporters from across the state—including teachers and providers, parents, business leaders and others –who came to the state Capitol to advocate for high-quality early care and education programs. Participants including a well represented group from Fresno County met with more than 100 state legislators and staff members to share their stories about how high-quality early learning programs have benefited California’s children, families and communities. View Early Learning Advocacy Day photos and download materials.
In this time of unprecedented fiscal crisis, Early Learning Advocacy Day, hosted by the California Association for the Education of Young Children and Preschool California and co-sponsored by 60 organizations, showcased the strength of our coalition of early care and education supporters. Advocates spoke with one voice to tell legislators that in these tough economic times, high-quality early learning programs are a critical long-term investment for California.
Earlier in the day, supporters heard from an impressive lineup of early learning speakers, including current State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell, Santa Clara County Superintendent Charles Weis, State Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Larry Aceves and Donita Stromgren of the California Child Care Resource and Referral Network. Guest speakers Assemblymember Joan Buchanan, Assemblymember Julia Brownley and Senator Carol Liu reiterated the importance of California’s early care and education programs and asked advocates to remind their legislators that “our children are worth fighting for.” The two delegations from Fresno County were able to meet with our local representatives: Senator Dean Florez, Assemblyman Juan Arambula, Assemblyman Chinook Shin, and Assemblyman Mike Villines.In addition, Wilma Hashimoto, FCOE associate director of Early Care and Education was an invited guest speaker who showcased the Special Needs/Foster Youth articulation plan which was hailed as an innovative and inclusive preschool plan for our most vulnerable ECE population.
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Every year First 5 Fresno County recognizes five local businesses that encourage and support child-friendly practices. A child-friendly business allows parent employees to be productive workers as well as the best parents they can be. This year, the Fresno County Office of Education was one of the five recipients of the 2010 Child-Friendly Business Award.
Photograph provided by First 5 Fresno County.
Photograph provided by First 5 Fresno County.Click here for a complete list of the First 5 Fresno County 2010 Child-Friendly Business Award recipients.
Additional coverage:
First 5 Fresno County Website
The Business Journal -
Gains at the L.A. Universal Preschool programs were especially significant for learners of English. Read more...
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The California Head Start Association and Child Care Results has released the 2010 California Head Start Child Outcomes Bulletin. The report illustrates the advancement of Head Start participants in several developmental areas, such as language and literacy, math, motor, and social skills.
Click here to download a copy of the 2010 California Head Start Child Outcomes Bulletin.
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On February 1, 2010, Sheriff Margaret Mims made a special visit to Herndon-Barstow Elementary in the Central Unified School District. The visit was in support of the mission of FIGHT CRIME: Invest in Kids California, a statewide, bipartisan, nonprofit, anti-crime organization of 400 police chiefs, sheriffs, district attorneys and victims of violence.
Decades of research has shown that an effective preschool experience is one of the best crime-prevention tools around. When children attend preschool, they learn how to get along with other kids and resolve conflicts peacefully. They learn the basic social and pre-academic skills that will prepare them to succeed later in life. Down the road, they perform better in school, are more likely to graduate, and are less likely to ever be arrested.
Sheriff Mims reads "Tickle Monster", written by Josie Bissett, to children in Cora Ramos' preschool classroom. -
AVAILABILITY OF THE THIRD DRAFT 2009 INTERIM REPORT
The California Early Learning Quality Improvement System (CAEL QIS) Advisory Committee is required to develop an interim report on its progress in developing a policy and implementation plan for the Early Learning Quality Improvement System. The CAEL QIS Interim Report will be provided to the Legislature and the Governor by January 2010, and a final report is due by December 31, 2010 (required in SB 1629 2008). A copy of the draft 2009 Interim Report can now be found on the CAEL QIS Advisory Committee Web page. The CAEL QIS Advisory Committee and the California Department of Education (CDE) are interested in your feedback on the draft Interim Report. To that end, CDE established an e-mail address to receive final comments and suggested edits regarding the CAEL QIS draft 2009 Interim Report. The e-mail address is caelqisdraftrpt@cde.ca.gov. In order to provide time to make changes to the draft interim report, please submit all corrections and suggestions by December 21, 2009.
The draft interim report gives a brief history of the legislation establishing the Advisory Committee and focuses on the work over 2009 of the Advisory Committee, as well as the five Subcommittees. The report also highlights the current state of California’s Early Learning and Care System. Through the Western Regional Federal Comprehensive Center, the American Institute of Research (AIR) has partnered with CDE to write the interim report.
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The Fresno City College Child Development Center was honored at the 30th Annual Golden Bell Awards program of the California School Boards Association. The award was won in the Early Childhood Education category, recognizing the Center’s success in providing high-quality early childhood education and is a P-18 model throughout the state.
The CSBA Golden Bell Awards program promotes excellence by recognizing outstanding programs in school districts and county offices of education throughout California. The Golden Bell Awards reflect the depth and breadth of the education programs necessary to address students’ changing needs. The goal of this awards program is to contribute to the development and evaluation of curriculum, instruction and support services.
From left to right: Mary Ann Cusator; Sheila Collins; Christine Culbertson; Mary Mattern; Fresno County Board of Education President Keith Eubanks, and Board Member Delbert Cederquist; Deborah Marius
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Assemblyman Danny Gilmore, R-Hanford, read to preschoolers at Washington Elementary School on Nov. 13 during a visit to the campus aimed at promoting early childhood education. Gilmore represents Kingsburg in the state Assembly.
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The town hall meeting on the Quality Rating Improvement System was a tremendous success. The opening message included a view of the federal landscape for early care and education presented by representatives from Preschool California. Additionally, Dennis Vicars, Chair of the State of California Early Learning Quality Improvement System advisory presented the draft contents of the state’s proposal. Mr. Vicars was particularly interested in hearing from our local Quality Rating System task team chair, Wilma Hashimoto, about the development of the Fresno County system for improvement. The Town Hall meeting allowed for a healthy dialogue between the designers of the state’s system and the task team members of our local plan.
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A new report from WestEd Center for Child and Family Studies profiles the status of children and their families in California, including demographic, social and economic conditions
