Editor’s Note: Each year, the All-America City Award, America’s oldest and most prestigious community recognition, is given to communities that exemplify outstanding civic accomplishments. In 2017, NCL and the Campaign for Grade-Level Reading will recognize communities that have made measurable progress for low-income children on the key drivers of early reading success.
From June 14-16, hundreds of civic and community leaders, public officials and educators from across the country will come together for the 2017 All-America City Awards Gathering to recognize communities that exemplify outstanding civic accomplishments and are leading the way on grade-level reading efforts. Communities nationwide are invited to attend the AAC Awards Gathering to reflect and share what they have learned and explore how to achieve even bigger outcomes.
Source: Campaign for Grade-Level Reading
The Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is a growing regional movement intent on our children succeeding.
As we strive to close the educational achievement gap, data-driven practices and alignments are key with The Patterson Foundation providing regional support to the work led by the Community Foundation of Sarasota County and the United Way of Manatee County.
Turning outward, listening, and engaging in action,
Striving for community unity over silos and factions,
We address common obstacles and issues….
Strengthening relationships, creating new partnerships, and building connective tissue.
There is commitment and alignment of strong community partners:
The School District and Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County,
Sarasota County’s School District and Department of Health,
Public Housing,
Head Start Programs,
County Governments,
County Libraries,
The media,
Local Businesses.
Philanthropists and individuals have created a movement that evolves:
Where parents are the heroes,
Children are joyful achievers and families are at the center…
With people becoming involved in setting audacious goals…
As we resolve to lift our children up to the success they deserve.
Strategic and connected leadership, five-sector collaborations, data sharing, and aligned communications are our foundation.
We span two generations by looking at causation which leads to the intentional formation of plans to support our region’s college and career aspirations.
We have experienced bumps and moments of stress…but we nimbly made course corrections as we kept our focus our children’s success…
We strategize with data moving toward outcomes rather than outputs.
We synthesize what we have learned and move towards scale.
We systemize our approach in each solution area.
Notable work in School Readiness and Parent Engagement:
Vroom,
Mind in the Making,
Pre–K identification-numbers,
Kindergarten Readiness Bags,
Reading Pals
Parent University and
Reach Out and Read.
In Attendance and Heath:
Graduation Enhancement Technicians (Gets) in Title 1 schools,
A Dental Sealants program for Title 1 2nd graders,
82,000 children participating in the Attendance Awareness Poster Contest,
and data technician positions within the school districts.
Summer Learning is being promoted:
The expansion of Summer Learning Academies,
A Soar in Four program for incoming kindergarteners,
and the Suncoast Summer Book Challenge with over 30 providers and thousands of children participating.
We connect to our community with a strong social media presence, two electronic newsletters, and a SPIRE Colab partnership with the Sarasota Herald Tribune … using solutions journalism to engage the community and keep the movement in tune.
The Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading is a growing regional movement intent on our children succeeding.
To contact Suncoast Campaign for Grade-Level Reading: info@GradeLevelReadingSuncoast.net
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