Winter 2012 Newsletter
InvestingChange in
Celebrating over 30 years of helping Long Islanders make a difference
Ready or not? You know that good feeling you get when you help make things better? This newsletter looks at grants that were made possible in large part by generous Long Islanders who want to make a difference—and set up endowed funds with us. To find out how you can leave your own legacy, contact Marie Smith, Director of Donor Relations & Communications at (516) 348-0575, ext. 223 or msmith@licf.org.
They say with age comes wisdom, but did you know that about 90 percent of a child’s brain development occurs before age five? That’s when a child develops the ability to crawl, speak, eat, laugh and walk. Babies are born learning, making the early years a critical period for preparing children for school and life. The significance of the first years of life is well established. Many studies demonstrate that pre-k learning reduces the need for remedial education and grade repetition, and cuts dropout rates and juvenile crime. Yet, surprisingly, a recent poll from Stony Brook University Center for Survey Research reveals that only 16 percent of Long Islanders believe that these early years should be a high priority for education funding. Progress in addressing school readiness has been slow.
Photo by Early Years Institute.
Inside 2 LI Sewers get graded 3 2011 grant highlights 4 Other grants
The Early Years Institute (EYI) has worked to improve the quality of early childcare and education on Long Island since 2002. Originally launched by a collaborative fund initiated by the Long Island Community Foundation, EYI educates all of us — parents, professionals and the public — about the importance of the early years, and brings together community leaders to make bold investments in children from birth to age eight. With grants totaling $50,000 over two years, the Long Island Community Foundation has been helping EYI
Young children need loving families and caretakers, stimulating and safe environments, and quality services to become successful adults. Photo by EYI.
educate the public about the importance of children’s early years and the need to prepare them for kindergarten, regardless of income, race, or school district. Its mission directly ties to LICF’s priority to ensure quality education for all of Long Island’s students. “Through its diverse partnerships, relationships, and expertise, EYI is positioned to lead a campaign that improves early learning environments and school readiness across Long Island,” said Sol Marie Alfonso-Jones, LICF program officer. “It can begin to deal with some of the disparities and inequities that exist in schools across Long Island.”
After some map plotting and identifying neighborhood vulnerabilities such as poverty levels, available health services, parks, etc., the result was a graphic representation of factors in the district that put young children at a disadvantage, and a road map for where and how to allocate new programs, improve service coordination, and increase community involvement. EYI then convened a team of community leaders, parents, educators, health workers, and childcare providers to begin creating a community-led intervention strategy, and to take ownership of its implementation and outreach plan.
“This year, with generous funding from LICF, our Westbury Leadership Team will implement intervention strategies to address the vulnerabilities identified by the EDI,” says Dana Friedman, president of EYI. “We will draw on the experiences in Westbury to develop a campaign to improve school readiness on Long Island.”
Grasping a bottle; first words; staggering steps; responding to a mother’s voice. What do these things have in common? All of them are examples of a Using polling, data collection, Community young child’s developmental Cafès — parent-hosted gatherings “steps” forward. Last year, EYI piloted the Early Development Instrument (EDI), a methodology to assess children’s school readiness, in the Westbury school district. EYI worked with kindergarten teachers on the methodology, which measured their students in five areas to determine their overall school readiness: physical health, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive development, and communication skills and general knowledge.
where people participate in guided conversations — and focus groups, EYI will create a work plan to launch the campaign, including a plan for creating a school-ready neighborhood; a communications approach; parent involvement and community capacitybuilding activities; a regional school readiness leadership team; and a plan for expanding the EDI model to other communities. “It’s all very exciting,” Friedman continues. “LICF ‘gets it’ and we are grateful for the grant that will help us implement this systemic change in Long Island’s early education.” n
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