Ready to Learn Providence

Estimados amigos y colegas,
Con un peso en el corazón, les escribo para dejarles saber que a finales de septiembre Ready to Learn Providence estará cerrado sus puertas.
Durante casi dos décadas, ha sido tanto un placer como un privilegio servir a la comunidad de aprendizaje temprano en Rhode Island, pero en el actual clima financiero, no podemos mantener nuestros programas. Estoy extraordinariamente orgullosa del trabajo que hemos realizado para mejorar la calidad de los programas de aprendizaje temprano y para apoyar, expandir y profesionalizar la fuerza laboral de aprendizaje temprano.
Desde nuestros inicios en 2002, hemos tenido un fuerte compromiso de trabajar con centros y proveedores de cuidado infantil familiar y de poder ofrecer nuestros servicios en inglés y español. Cuando comenzamos, los proveedores de cuidado infantil familiar de Rhode Island estaban lamentablemente desatendidos y subestimados. Ahora son vistos como un componente integral y esencial de nuestro sistema de aprendizaje temprano, y estoy orgullosa del papel que R2LP desarrolló para hacer que esto sucediera.
Ready to Learn ha sido igualmente apasionado por empoderar y apoyar a los padres de niños pequeños, y gracias a nuestra asociación de 15 años con el proyecto nacional Mind in the Making, hemos tenido un profundo impacto en las vidas de miles de padres y otros miembros de la familia que cuidan a estos niños.
Durante más de 10 años, R2LP operó uno de los programas más grandes de AmeriCorps en el estado, proporcionando una trayectoria profesional de nivel básico a cientos de personas que continuaron sus carreras en la educación infantil. R2LP también fue una de las primeras organizaciones en operar un aula estatal de Pre-Kínder. Llegando a manejar un total de tres aulas, lo cual aseguró de que nunca olvidáramos cuán duro trabajan los educadores de la primera infancia a diario para poder brindar un programa de alta calidad.
Ready to Learn Providence era un lugar alegre para trabajar y tuvimos la suerte de contar con un personal de apasionados y dedicados profesionales que fueron impulsados por nuestra visión de que todos los niños pequeños estarán saludables y listos para aprender. En varios contextos, los miembros del personal se centraron en la construcción de comunidades de aprendizaje donde todos fueran valorados y respetados por las fortalezas y experiencias compartidas. Estoy muy agradecida por todo lo que me enseñaron. Colectivamente, nuestro personal tocó la vida de miles de profesionales y padres de aprendizaje temprano, y decenas de miles de niños.! ¡Este legado seguirá vivo!
Les agradezco a todos su colaboración, su amistad y su compromiso continuo de garantizar que todos los niños pequeños estén saludables y listos para aprender.
Deseándoles a todos bien,

Leslie

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

With a heavy heart, I am writing to let you know that at the end of September Ready to Learn Providence will be closing.

For almost two decades it has been our pleasure and privilege to serve the early learning community in Rhode Island. Unfortunately, in the current funding climate, we are simply unable to sustain our programs. I am extraordinarily proud of the work that we have done to improve the quality of early learning programs, and to support, expand and professionalize the early learning workforce. Since our inception in 2002, we have had a strong commitment to working with both centers and family child care providers and to offering our services in English and Spanish. When we began, our state’s family child care providers were woefully underserved and undervalued. They are now viewed as an integral and essential component of our early learning system, and I am proud of R2LP’s role in making this happen. Ready to Learn has been equally passionate about empowering and supporting the parents of young children, and, thanks to our 15-year partnership with the national Mind in the Making project, we’ve had a profound impact on the lives of thousands of parents and other family members who care for these children.

For over 10 years, R2LP operated one of the largest AmeriCorps programs in the state, providing an entry-level career pathway to hundreds of individuals who went on to pursue careers in early childhood education. R2LP also operated three state PreK classrooms, ensuring that we never forgot the daily challenges of running a high-quality program for young children.

Ready to Learn Providence was a joyful place to work and we were fortunate to have a passionate and dedicated staff of professionals who were driven by our vision that all young children will be healthy and ready to learn. In various contexts, staff members focused on building communities of learners where everyone was valued and respected for the strengths and experiences they brought. I am so grateful for everything they taught me. Collectively, our staff touched the lives of thousands of early learning professionals and parents, and tens of thousands of children. This legacy will live on.

I thank you all for your partnership, your friendship and your continued commitment to ensuring that all young children will be healthy and ready to learn.

Wishing you all well,

Leslie

Census 2020 is almost here! Starting on March 12th, most Rhode Islanders will receive instructions in the mail to complete the census online. However, paper forms will also be available upon request. Respondents also have the option of filling out the census over the phone. To learn more, visit RICensus2020.com.

A partir del 12 de marzo, la mayoría de las personas en Rhode Island recibirán instrucciones por correo para completar el censo en internet. Sin embargo, el cuestionario en papel también estará disponible al ser solicitado. Los encuestados también tienen la opción de completar el censo por teléfono. Para obtener más información, visita RICensus2020.com.

CENSUS 2020! - Let's get ready!
Exciting news - The RI Census 2020 Fund has awarded almost $300,000 to 26 community organizations around the state. R2LP is excited to be a part of this important work!
Shout-out to these trusted partners who are working to ensure that every Rhode Islander has a chance to be counted in .
https://rifoundation.org/news/nonprofits-win-nearly-300-000-for-census-outreach-to-under-counted-communities

Nonprofits win nearly $300,000 for Census outreach to under-counted… “These Census outreach grants are an essential tool to build the grassroots effort that will help us achieve our goal of ensuring that every Rhode Islander is counted."

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
Hoping you spread your wings in 2020

Ready to Learn’s Empowering Families project was the subject of a rigorous evaluation conducted by the Wellesley Centers for Women and the results are strong. Read the executive summary of the full evaluation here. (Shown below are a few of the folks who made the program such a success.) Mind in the Making

www.r2lp.org

A packed house today in our professional development series designed to help programs move up the BrightStars continuum. We were joined by our colleagues from LISC who are facilitating a session on Best Business Practices.

Congratulations to R2LP staff member Bethany Carpenter who was just awarded the Sue Conner Special Friend of Rhode Island’s Children Educator Award, presented this morning at RIAEYC’s annual early childhood conference! So deserved. Thank you for all that you do for children and families!

Our Turn: Khadija Lewis Khan and Leanne Barrett: Taxpayers should help more with child care High-quality, affordable child care is critical for meeting Rhode Island’s economic and education goals — it helps parents work and provides

R2LP’s fabulous Empowering Families team was at the Health and Education Symposium on Saturday helping families of young children complete a survey for parents and guardians of children ages birth through 5. The survey is being conducted by The RI Department of Human Services and is part of Rhode Island’s PreSchool Development Grant.

On Saturday, Ready to Learn Providence, in collaboration with The Autism Project, PLEE (Parents Leading for Educational Equity, and Neighborhood Health Plan, hosted a Spanish-language health and education symposium for parents and community members. Many thanks to our event sponsors including the Rhode Island Foundation, University College at Roger Williams University, Sodexo, Project Underwear, and Tufts Health Plan. Special thanks to Commissioner of Education Angelica Infante-Greene for delivering a key note address and for spending her Saturday morning with Providence parents.

FREE back to school haircuts next Thursday!

Free school supplies!

Tomorrow — free school supplies! https://www.btscri.org/index.php/events/24-future-events/116-our-20th-back-to-school-celebration-event-3

Help the state better understand the needs of the early childhood workforce and receive a $10 gift card as a thank you.

🗣📣Calling all early learning program directors, educators, and staff that work with young children in RI…we want to hear from you! 🗣📣

DHS is conducting a survey to better understand the needs of our early learning workforce. Responses are completely confidential, and you'll receive a $10 gift card as a thank you 🤩

Survey for educators here: http://sgiz.mobi/s3/RI-Educator
Survey for program directors here: http://sgiz.mobi/s3/RI-Director

Rhode Island Association for the Education of Young Children RI Campaign for Quality Child Care & Pre-K Rhode Island Department of Education - RIDE Ready to Learn Providence Children's Friend

Residents of Coventry, Woonsocket, Bristol, and Warren can apply online HERE: http://www3.ride.ri.gov/PKlottery2?fbclid=IwAR1wWawIlWUTOWYA0RzUljYpRI7dV_LCvT8uyF7JpDPYbXMp5R75F3Cl1FY

ride.ri.gov

2019 Application for Pre-Kindergarten Thanks for your interest in enrolling your student in one of the state's pre-kindergarten classes. Due to demand, students must be selected for enrollment through a state-supervised lottery.

Sadly, a $3 million federal grant we received in 2014 with Providence Public Schools comes to an end this month. In that time we’ve shown several thousand parents, teachers and others how to strengthen a young child’s executive function skills – the essential skills that successful children (and adults) possess. We did that with Mind in the Making, a powerful 16-hour program that many families called “life changing.” Click below to see what parents, educators and administrators say about this initiative.

Empowering Families – ‘You can’t put a price tag on that’ | Ready to Learn Providence

The Strolling Thunder team meets to discuss this year's successful event and plan for next year's.

This picture was taken at a recent breakfast meeting with our Strolling Thunder partners to debrief on this year’s and plan for next year’s event!

Back row: Khadija Lewis Khan, Executive Director of Beautiful Beginnings Child Care Center; Erin Cox, Program Offices for the LISC Rhode Island Child Care & Early Learning Facilities Fund; Roberta DiMezza from the House of Representatives staff who supports the Child Care Commission; Leanne Barrett, Senior Policy Analyst at Rhode Island KIDS COUNT; Rep. Grace Diaz; Alyson Panzarella, BrightStars Navigator; Osmary Rodriguez Barker of Barker Project Management
Front row: Katie Neves, Leslie Gell, Director of Ready to Learn Providence; and ELizabeth Burke Bryant, Executive Director of Rhode Island KIDS COUNT. Lisa Hildebrand, Executive Director of Rhode Island Association for the Education of Young Children also attended! ZERO TO THREE RI Campaign for Quality Child Care & Pre-K

Mayor Jorge Elorza and his son joined one of the free Providence Talks playgroups now offered with Providence Community Library this morning. “I love this partnership for so many reasons,” he said at the Washington Park Library. Children like his, he noted, get a chance to be with other children, and parents (or other caregivers) get valuable tips from trained coaches for enhancing their child’s language development. If you have a child under 3½ and you live in Providence, go to your neighborhood library to learn more about this opportunity. Providence Talks partners with Federal Hill House Association for the delivery of these playgroups. Providence Talks is a program of RWU University College.

This a great video articulating the challenges facing the early childhood field and why quality early child care is so important for children, parents and the community.

Strolling Thunder RI - 2019 Thank you Margery O'Brien/Legislative Insight RI Capitol TV spending time with us at Strolling Thunder RI and helping to share why we must ! ----...

The state is now accepting applications for the lottery for its Prekindergarten Classrooms. If you have a child who will be 4 by Sept. 1, and you live in one of 11 cities or towns with a state-funded PreK classroom, don't miss this opportunity.

Applications are available now for state-funded PreK classrooms! | Ready to Learn Providence

On the move! ZERO TO THREE

Getting ready to march to the statehouse.

Rhode Island Earns National Recognition For Pre-K Programs Rhode Island was ne of just three states to meet all quality standard benchmarks in the2018 State of Preschool Yearbook.

Here are more photos from the Open House for family child-care providers. Click here for all the details. https://bit.ly/2KpqOKJ

There are some more great photos here of our PreK kids from Heritage Park in Pawtucket. And, as always, thank you Rhode Island KIDS COUNT for your essential Factbook.

Rhode Island KIDS COUNT celebrated its 25th Anniversary of child advocacy at the 2019 Factbook Breakfast on Monday, April 8, 2019! All professional photos are by Peter Goldberg photography.

Nearly 150 family child-care providers attended an open house Saturday designed to make them feel more at home in our space at One Empire Street. Click below to see pix and details of this successful event, which was largely organized by a group of passionate providers who have been part of our community for many years.

Providers become more at home in our new quarters at a well-attended open house | Ready to Learn Providence

Congratulations to our PreK kids from Heritage Park on their terrific performance this morning at the Rhode Island KIDS COUNT breakfast.