What’s happening in the demonstration communities?

The three diverse demonstration learning models are located across Kansas: Coffeyville (Montgomery County) in southeast Kansas; Liberal (Seward County) in southwest Kansas; and Rossville (Shawnee County) in northeast Kansas.

To learn about what's happening in a community's preschool partnership, click on its name.

It's exciting to enhance our programs for young children by combining our efforts and strengths with other agencies in our community.

-- Laura Cano, Federal Programs Director, Liberal USD

“Most children see each other as equal play friends, not as different.  It is the adult who influences how children perceive each other as different.”

-- EJ Salley, Four-Year-Old At-Risk Teacher, Liberal USD

By combining state and federal resources, we are able to keep our program more stable and make the most of what we have, to provide the highest level of service.

-- Phyllis Marmon, Director (Rossville), Community Action, Inc., Head Start

The inclusion program has helped my son with more than his academics.  His self-esteem is up, he is learning good social skills, and he’s having a fun time doing it.

-- Lexi Amos-Lyddon, Parent, Liberal

The Hamm Early Learning Center is worthwhile and working!  It’s taking a lot of dedication, hard work and collaboration of all the partnerships.

-- Tammy Blaich, M.S., L.C.P., Four County Mental Health, Coffeyville

Each partner program brought its strengths to our collaboration, so that we find we’re doing better things together than we were doing separately.

-- Ann McCullough, Principal, Kaw Valley USD

Wow! That first day of preschool was a doozy. I questioned whether it was necessary to serve the children both breakfast and lunch. It brought a tear to my eye when one of our staff told me about...

-- Beverly Newton, Director of Food Services, Rossville

By collaborating, we truly serve the whole child and family by developing academic readiness and providing comprehensive services, such as general health, mental health, dental, and nutrition.

-- Linda Broyles, Director (Coffeyville), SEK-CAP Head Start

Our bottom line is, ‘Are we doing what’s best for kids and families?'

-- Diane Hensley, Parent and Family Liaison, Liberal USD

I really like that our daughters are in classes with a variety of children -- different backgrounds -- everything. That is so important, because that's life.

-- Heather Heslip, Parent, Coffeyville

Read more...

Local and state K-12 leaders are finding that collaborating with community-based providers such as Head Start programs, child care centers and faith-based organizations can help them develop and implement high-quality pre-k programs that meet the needs of young children and their families in a comprehensive way.

Read the report, "Beyond the School Yard: Pre-K Collaborations with Community-Based Partners".

 

School districts across the nation are blending preschool classrooms.  Mary Baskett, Executive Director of Kansas Head Start Association, and the Demonstration Learning Communities project are featured on Early Ed Watch, a blog from New America's Early Education Initiative.

Read the article, "All in One Classroom: Blending Head Start and Non-Head Start Students".