||| FROM JAMES CONNELL for EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION |||
Who Are We?
For ten years, preschool educators and board members from our three state-certified preschool programs, county early childhood education staff, education and child development experts, along with community advocates and investors have participated in a public/private partnership called the Early Childhood Education Initiative (ECEI).
The work of ECEI is grounded in solid research on best practices for preschool children and educators and focuses on a single goal: to provide sustainable access to high quality preschool education for all of Orcas Island’s children regardless of family financial restraints or developmental needs of the children.
Washington State Department of Commerce Child Care Partnership recognized ECEI in 2020 by awarding us a competitive grant to document our work. The state disseminated descriptions of ECEI to other rural communities as a replicable model of public/private partnership successfully serving preschool children and families. CCP Reports.pdf
How We Work and What We’ve Accomplished
Every quarter for over 8 years, our Steering Committee convenes to discuss the needs of each program’s children and families (access) and the needs of preschool educators to improve their instruction (quality). All of these access and quality requests have been funded since 2017, resulting in universal access to quality preschool for all families on Orcas Island. For the past five years ECEI has achieved the following outcomes for students based on valid, comprehensive assessments of developmental and educational progress administered at the end of their preschool career:
- At least 90% of ECEI programs’ “graduates” are Kindergarten ready.
- At least 90% of students with individual education plans crafted to meet their special needs have hit their educational and developmental targets.
These numbers significantly exceed the county (%), state (%) and national (%) readiness rates. A fuller documentation of ECEI’s outcomes is available HERE: Measurements of ECEI Goals Used FINAL.docx.pdf
Finally, ECEI has received over $1.5 million dollars in private funds from hundreds of individuals and several private foundations, 95% of which are rooted here on Orcas Island, along with multiple grants from public sources and the United Way of San Juan County. This has drastically reduced the preschool program staffs’ fund-raising burden so they can focus on producing successful student outcomes. ECEI currently has committed funds sufficient to guarantee two years of sustained universal access and parental choice among the three quality preschool programs and has launched an initiative to ensure a permanent five-year sustainability horizon.
Summary
ECEI, through a collaborative public/private partnership, has transformed the early childhood education landscape on Orcas Island to provide all families and children – without exception and irrespective of economic or developmental and educational challenges – the opportunity to access demonstrably high-quality preschool programs. ECEI’s unique program is based on operational principles that are well-established, research-based, and collaborative, with a funding base that is diverse, committed, and sustainable, all of which attest to the strength of early childhood opportunities and support on Orcas Island.
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Thank you for sharing success by the numbers. I fully support all the pre-schools who participate in these programs and hope there continues to be the same level of success going forward and without interruption.
Congrats on all your hard work and success!
A big thank you to Jim and everyone involved in the formation and structuring of ECEI. The model you have created is a shining example of what a community with robust support for Early Childhood Education looks like.
Thanks to your efforts, the support of the many donors involved and the strong support of ECEAP, every Orcas Island preschooler is able to receive the best possible foundation for future success.
Our community will benefit from this investment for decades to come.
Many thanks to Jim Connell who has been the “mainstay”of this effort for 10 years. His experience, perspective, and active engagement with our early childhood education schools has been invaluable. Well Done !!!
Great Work!!!!!
Going way back to the 1990’s, a HUGE thanks should go to Rosalie Lang for getting early childhood education going at Children’s House via grant funding, bringing the importance of how critical ECE is for our children. As I recall $1 spent on ECE resulted in something like $7 savings to the community for expenses NOT required (welfare, police, jails, drug rehab, etc.) as well as tax revenue from those workers who otherwise might have been in jail. (I was on the Children’s House board for many years so long ago I don’t recall the dates: Rosalie was the rock star that jump started this initiative.