School Readiness Initiative
Children who have early learning skills as thenter kindergarten do better in elementary school, are more likely to graduate from high school, have better career success, and are less involved in crime and drugs.
That is why First 5 Santa Cruz County continues to implement a local component of the First 5 California’s School Readiness Initiative to improve the transition from early care settings to elementary schools and to increase the schools’ and communities’ capacity to promote the success of young children. Each School Readiness program includes five “Essential and Coordinated Elements” for school readiness: Early Care and Education, Parenting and Family Support Services, Health and Social Services, Schools’ Readiness for Children/School Capacity, and Program Infrastructure, Administration, and Evaluation. School Readiness efforts focus on communities with low-performing schools as measured by the Academic Performance Index (API) and can be based at schools or in school-linked settings.
Locally, the School Readiness Initiative is titled Steps to Success, and focuses on two elementary school areas, Freedom and Radcliff Elementary. Steps to Success works to increase the readiness of children for school by funding and/or providing services, and supports schools’ readiness for children through capacity-building activities. Neighboring school communities of Starlight, Alianza, and Landmark have received support to implement Summer Pre-K and Kinder Transition.
Kindergarten Snapshot
Kindergarten Snapshot - Spanish
The National Education Goals Panel
