Our community’s youngest learners need your support

April is the Month of the Young Child, a time to plan how we as a community can better meet the needs of all young children, their families, early learning providers and teachers. As the Board of Directors for North Thurston Public Schools, we believe ensuring equitable access to affordable, high-quality early learning programs, with living wages for providers, must be a year-round commitment.

Now more than ever, increased early learning opportunities can help boost our economy and ensure that working families with young children do not slip through the cracks – especially after the nation’s educational and economic losses during the pandemic. According to the First Five Years Fund, one of the country’s leading early childhood advocacy organizations, investments in high-quality early childhood education can generate up to $7.30 per dollar invested.

While less than half of low-income children in our country have access to high-quality early childhood programs that could dramatically improve their opportunities for a better future, those who were enrolled in those programs had increased college graduation rates and employment at age 30.

In April 2018, we hosted a Community Conversation on one of our Strategic Plan’s goals, “Success in the Early Years.” With public feedback, we made several determinations to guide the district forward in making this one of our top priorities in North Thurston Public Schools. We are pleased to report some of our progress:

• A family engagement liaison and monthly Pre-K family education sessions.

• A new early learning center with capacity for 100 students, including those with special needs.

• A Future-Ready Kindergarten program for students not currently enrolled in preschool.

• A partnership with the Capitol Forest Cooperative Preschool.

• Expanded access to the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) and Head Start.

Despite these positive steps, we know the work is not over until every child in our area has access to a quality preschool program and their families have the resources they need to support their child’s development.

Kindergarten readiness is a critical link in the chain of a child’s K-12 success and beyond. According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the early years of a child’s life are the period of the most rapid brain development and lay the foundation for all future learning. Studies show that investing in high-quality early childhood education is a decision that saves taxpayer dollars in the long run. Publicly funded preschool programs alleviate the financial burden of private childcare, making working families more economically secure while preparing their children to succeed in school, earn higher wages, and lead healthier lives.

In 2019, 529 children qualified for state-funded preschool in our district’s service area, but only 210 of those children were served. That same year, only 58.5 percent of young students were Kindergarten Ready based on the Washington Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills (WaKIDS) assessment. Achieving readiness based on this metric is a strong indicator of a child’s success in third grade as well as their likelihood to graduate. Increasing access to high-quality preschool programs will boost this percentage.

Funding for preschool programs must continue to increase! There is a shortage of preschool programs in our district’s attendance area. This drastically hinders access, and we need capital construction funding to change it. We call on our legislators, at both state and national levels, to prioritize funding for high quality, universally accessible early learning programs.

The community has a stake in the success of our youngest members. Along with their families, they deserve our collective support. Call or write your elected representatives and tell them to advocate for increased early childhood education funding. If you have friends or family with young children, ask about their plans for preschool and make sure they know about our monthly family education program.

We don’t want the pandemic to reverse the positive trend we’ve seen in the percentage of children enrolled in preschool programs. We need to prioritize the success of our youngest learners as a community, as a state, and as a nation.

The North Thurston Public Schools Board of Directors are Gretchen Maliska, Chuck Namit, Dave Newkirk, Jennifer Thomas, and Graeme Sackrison.

This story was originally published April 8, 2021 at 5:45 AM.