Smart Start of Brunswick County held its 2010 State of the Child Breakfast on August 27 at the new Brunswick Community College Student Center. Approximately 60 guests attended to recognize this year’s Champion for Children recipients and to listen to Guest Speaker Bill Millett, President of Scope View Strategic Advantage. Mr. Millett presentation, “Quality Early Education-A Competitive Necessity for Brunswick County in a Global Society” was instructive and enlightening regarding the challenges for families and others involved in early childhood education. Receiving the Champions for Children Awards were pictured left to right Assistant District Attorney Meredith Everhardt for Community Support; Pre-school teacher Sharon Norris for Early Care & Education; Department of Social Services Director Don Seeber for Family Support; and Playground Specialist Kim Heath for Health.
Brunswick Smart Start Hosts State of the Child Breakfast
One Week Left to Submit Conference Workshop Proposals
Only one week left to submit a workshop proposal for the 2011 National Smart Start Conference. The event is a chance to share your expertise with a national audience of people committed to improving early education systems and promoting the healthy growth and development of children. For more information and to submit a proposal online, visit the proposal registration page. Proposals are due by August 30th.
We are currently accepting proposals in the areas of:
- Early Care & Education Program & Practitioner Support
- Policy, Public Engagement & Advocacy
- Governance & Administration
- Standards & Accountability
- Research
- Early Childhood Systems Development
- Family Support
- Early Care Health & Mental Health
Conference Details: The 2011 National Smart Start Conference
The nation’s leading conference devoted to early education systems and strategies to improve child care quality.
May 2-5, 2011
Sheraton Greensboro at Four Seasons
3121 High Point Road Greensboro, North Carolina 27407 USA
Early Bird Registration Fee: $185
Registration will open in November. We will send another email announcing when registration is open.
For questions, email conference@smartstart.org.
A Snapshot of Early Head Start and Head Start
CLASP has released two fact sheets that look at Early Head Start and Head Start.
In 2009, the Early Head Start program served 83,682 children under age 3 and 9,605 pregnant women. Nationally, less than 3 percent of eligible children were served by Early Head Start.
Read the key findings from the report, Early Head Start Participants, Programs, Families and Staff in 2009.
The Head Start preschool program served 929,257 young children—about 11,000 fewer children than in 2008. Read the key findings from the report Head Start Participants, Programs, Families and Staff in 2009
NC Center for Afterschool Programs Hosting Summits
The NC Center for Afterschool Programs will be convening regional summits this fall to bring together those working to support disadvantaged youth with regards to health and wellness, dropout prevention, closing performance gaps, and juvenile crime prevention.
NC CAP hopes the summits will foster cross-sector collaboration to create more opportunities for disadvantaged youth, make better use of funds, and increase awareness about the need for afterschool programs.
The events are scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with lunch provided, at the following dates and locations:
- Goldsboro City Hall, September 13
- Durham/RTP Sheraton Imperial, September 21
- Salisbury Historic Train Depot, October 15
- Wilmington Coastline Convention Center, October 19
- Asheville Civic Center, November 4
There is no fee to attend the summits.
For the September summits, please RSVP your attendance to Katie Biggerstaff before September 1, by calling (919) 781-6833 ext. 132, faxing (919) 781-6527, or emailing kbiggerstaff@ncforum.org.
For the October/November summits, please RSVP your attendance to Katie Biggerstaff before October 1, by calling (919) 781-6833 ext. 132, faxing (919) 781-6527, or emailing kbiggerstaff@ncforum.org.
Early Learning I3 Winners
Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Education announced the Investing in Innovation Fund (I3) recipients. According to the Department, “A cross-section of 49 school districts, nonprofit education organizations and institutions of higher education have been selected from among nearly 1,700 applicants for potential funding under the Investing in Innovation (i3) program.”
The New American Foundation’s Early Ed Watch Blog is taking a closer look at those that focus on early learning. Of the 49 winners, 13 included early learning as a priority.
In the coming weeks, they also plan to provide more in-depth analysis of the highest-rated applicants that prioritized early learning. Take a look at the posting, “Parsing the i3 Projects with a Focus on Early Learning.”
Explore all submitted applications.