Family Centers Partners with SPEF, SPS to Help Prepare Incoming Kindergarteners for Success

With support from the Herbert & Nell Singer Foundation and in partnership with Stamford Cradle to Career (SC2C), Family Centers will enter into a new collaborative with the Stamford Public Education Foundation (SPEF) and Stamford Public Schools (SPS) to enhance a program designed to ensure that incoming kindergartners in Stamford are prepared for sustained educational success.

For years, SPEF’s Summer Start Program has supported the needs of economically disadvantaged families with students entering Stamford Public Schools. Summer Start is a six-week, half-day early education program for incoming kindergarten students with no formal preschool experience. While it focuses on developing the literacy and mathematics skills aligned to the Connecticut Core State Standards, it also serves to alleviate the anxiety and stress many children feel when starting kindergarten.

Based on the success of its Parents as Co-Educators program, Family Centers will add a parent engagement component to help participating families understand their role as their child’s first best teacher, build capacity for parent-school engagement and advocacy, and to connect them to needed community resources.

By adding this engagement component, parents will receive six months of home visiting services, access to parenting support groups, regular text support, referrals to community resources and more. Parents that enroll in this enhanced version of Summer Start will benefit from wrap-around services throughout their child’s year in Kindergarten to both build and strengthen their skills.

Click Here for more information or to enroll in Summer Start for 2019.