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The Collaboration for Early Childhood: What We Do
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The Collaboration for Early Childhood: What We Do
The Collaboration for Early Childhood is a unique public/private partnership designed to improve early childhood outcomes and ensure that every child thrives in their first five years of life...and beyond! By working in partnership with our community, we strive to ensure that our children arrive at kindergarten safe, healthy, ready to succeed, and eager to learn. In other words, we champion high-quality early childhood care and learning experiences and support for families so all children develop their full potential.
In 2003, all six of Oak Park’s governmental agencies (School Districts 97 and 200, the Village of Oak Park and Oak Park Township, the Oak Park Public Library and the Park District) joined to initiate, fund and guide the Collaboration for Early Childhood.
While we never lose sight of our children, let’s not forget that they grow up right here in our community. We cannot support strong children without first supporting strong communities that have the tools and connection to the resources they need to nurture our children. That’s why we work with families and caregivers, educators and child care providers, health professionals and systems leaders.
Our Program Service Areas: • Early Learning: Strengthening the success of the preschool classroom experience through professional development and support of our early childhood leaders and educator. • Health and Development: Providing support to child health practitioners and administering vision, hearing, and developmental screenings to our children. • Family Engagement: Helping families to be advocates for their children and share early childhood knowledge across the parent and caregiver community. • Community Engagement: Spreading awareness of early childhood issues and streamlining connections to resources in our community.
