School Readiness Council

Middletown School Readiness Council Meeting Minutes Date: ​Wednesday, February 27, 2019 Location: ​Bielefield School, Room 21 Attendance: Monica Belyea ​ ​ x Ed Bonilla x Sheila Daniels x Beverly Lawrence ​ x Christine O’Grady x Wendy Berlind x Amy Clarke Dawn Dubay ​ ​ x Jerome Long Michelle Peterson-Aresco Jennifer Billingsley x Michael Conner x Izzi Greenberg x Donna Marino Precious Price x Jennifer Cannata Rebecca Cuevas Lina Kronenberger Cliff O’Callahan Marla Hinz x Also Present: Submitted/Recorded by: Agenda Item Discussion/Motion Recommendation//Action Item 1. Introductions & Jenn Billingsley: March 9th first 9-5 hours at the library Announcements WOTYC 6th-12th Dic Wheeler: at Oddfellows Grand Rounds: Resilience film April 12th noon at Middlesex Hospital Footsteps2Brilliance table RJ Julia will participate per Sheila More community activities for children under 5 noted in Middletown, Dawn & Anna are discussing summer kickstart 5 weeks, 9-noon; Park and rec interested in and has added some early childhood activities Marla​: update operating classroom of 20 kids, expecting to open next classroom mid March, only offering the second, advocate for more slots Family advocates are helping to ensure paperwork is complete for families as they can’t even be on the waitlist without completed paperwork. Selection happens once a week, children get a certain number of points, not a first come first serve waitlist, for the highest need, hiring another family advocate.  Monica suggested and asked, Can we check in with families who are on the waitlist? Confidentiality for head start Selection is all lumped together, hours are 8:30-2:30 When does it end? June 6th Taking applications now for the fall Families are supporting each other and taking care of each other’s children. Marla was surprised how parents handled the early pick up time Wendy: preschool fair, had about a dozen families, can we do earlier or twice a year? Consider changing times:November and spring 2. Minutes Approval Wendy Berlind motioned to approve minutes Jen Billingsley seconded the motion 3. Financial Report All spaces in School Readiness programs are full. Nothing new to report Izzi asked how many out of town spaces are being used, confirm 2018 kid count: said 13-14, almost 24% dropped,is this an inaccurate pie chart? Put numbers of preschoolers data on agenda, discuss at strategic planning 4. Alignment to the Bridge to Brilliance initiative​: Total word exposure as of today 7,047,673; District Strategic books read: $25,225 Plan Goals for 2018-2019 Early Childhood Strategic Planning: Orientation is this Thursday from 3:30-5:15 Goal 1/ Teaching & Learning: Creation ELDs coaching: Dr. Eleanor Osborne almost completed of early childhood strategic plan, Digital literacy initiative & ELDs coaching 5. Important Hearing is Wednesday, March 6th in Hartford Legislative Updates Looking for teachers, staff and families to testify on a number of early childhood bills, Izzi Greenberg Izzi suggested going into programs, taking a pic of people and writing their story as part of a testimony This is our chance to tell legislators that families need affordable care and that early educators need a raise. There are two simple ways you can take action: 1. Attend the Education Public Hearing​ on early childhood legislation. It will start at 2 p.m. and run into the evening, so you can testify after work! Share​ your personal stories about: Can we go into programs and get stories and/or encourage testimonies? ● The high cost of child care ● Difficulty finding child care, or having to pay beyond your Care4Kids subsidy for child care ● What it's like living on an early childhood educator's salary, or paying back early educator student loans ● How hard it is for providers to attract and retain qualified early educators Legislators need to hear from you! Our ​testimony builder​ can help you create your testimony and the ​talking points​ for each bill may also come in handy. 2. Attend The #AffordableCare #DecentWages Rally​, 5:30 p.m. at Minuteman Park, outside the LOB 6. Program All programs have been monitored and are receiving supports from Dawn D as Monitoring & needed; all using footsteps Supports/ Workshops: ​March 12th DOTS w/ Judi, Town and Country director and one of her RFP has been teachers, Amity French-Wilson released April 27 Christine Leadership Training/ Followed by Part 2 of the DOTs May 14 Anti-bias Teaching and Learning June: Resilience film and/or Mindfulness 6. Other & Thank you for coming! Adjournment Meeting ended 1:00 pm Motion to adjourn: Wendy Berlind Second: Christine O’Grady ​Middletown School Readiness Council Shaping our Children’s School Success