Narrowing the Achievement Gap: Private-Public Partners Join Forces to Build 'Educare' in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, March 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A $12 million, state-of-the-art Educare school that provides early childhood education aimed at closing the achievement gap for children in poverty will break ground this summer in Washington, D.C., pending the approval of a ground lease by the City Council.

The school, funded by a unique consortium of private and public partners, will provide direct services to 175 infants, toddlers, preschoolers and their families in the Parkside Community. It will also serve to spark improvements in early childhood programs throughout the District by spreading best practices and creating new champions for early learning.

Private donors will pay for the construction of the 31,500-square-foot facility adjacent to Neval Thomas Elementary School, and a combination of local and federal public dollars, as well as an endowment of private support, will support day-to-day operations.

The Educare of Washington, D.C. partnership is driven by the commitment of two lead national funders so far: The Children's Initiative: a project of the J.B.  and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation; and the Buffett Early Childhood Fund. Other national partners include the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and the George Kaiser Family Foundation. Likely local partners include The United Planning Organization, the District of Columbia Public Schools and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, who are being asked to provide local public dollar support. Educare of Washington, D.C. is also working with the Parkside Redevelopment Project underway by CityInterests, and America's Promise Alliance is working with the Parkside-Kenilworth community and its public and charter schools in their application to become a Promise Neighborhood. The Educare project will be an important feature in that application.

"Our investment in Educare of Washington, D.C., reflects our family's deep and lasting commitment to the basic principle that beginning from birth, all children in America deserve equal opportunities at learning," said Chicago philanthropist and businessman J.B. Pritzker, whose foundation made the first major commitment of $5 million toward the Educare DC initiative.

"Research shows that for that to happen, hands-on teaching must begin at birth or else children will not arrive in kindergarten fully prepared to learn," Pritzker added. "There is no better investment in our nation's economic future than insuring a bright and capable workforce. We strongly urge others to join with us to provide a better future for all children in poverty by supporting high-quality early learning programs."

Educare of Washington, D.C., joins a growing network of Educare schools across the nation that is showing dramatic results.  University of North Carolina researchers who have evaluated the program found that children who enroll in Educare between birth and age 2 enter kindergarten better prepared than the national average for all children.  Educare children also scored better on measures of vocabulary and social skills than most low-income children, and both are strong predictors of future success in school.

The first Educare school opened in 2000 on Chicago's south side through an innovative partnership between the Irving Harris Foundation and the Ounce of Prevention Fund. Soon after, the Ounce of Prevention Fund and the Omaha-based Buffett Early Childhood Fund joined forces to work with local public and private partners across America to create the Educare network.

Currently, there are 10 operating Educare schools: in Chicago, Milwaukee, Denver, Miami, Oklahoma City, and Seattle, with two in both Omaha and Tulsa. Later this year, Educare schools will open in Kansas City and Waterville, Maine, and another 10 are in planning stages. As Educare has spread, it has helped to create a network of like-minded philanthropists -- including Kaiser, Kellogg, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Irving Harris Foundation and the two lead funders for Educare DC -- who invest together in national and state public policy reform as well as in building schools.

"We know that Educare will make a difference, and not just for the children and families of Parkside," said Dana Jones, chief executive officer of United Planning Organization, the local Head Start grantee and a key member of the Educare of Washington, D.C. operating partnership. "Educare will play a central role in the transformation of our community by sending a strong message that investing in our children will yield dividends for years to come."

In addition to providing effective early childhood programs for children in poverty, Educare schools also serve as a "showroom" for policymakers, business leaders, early childhood providers, and others to drive public policy decisions to invest in early childhood.  Educare of Washington, D.C. will also provide technical assistance, training, and funding support to spread best practices aimed at increasing the quality of early education programs throughout the District.

"Each Educare is a catalyst for change -- changing the life trajectories of the children served, changing early childhood practice within its community, and changing early childhood policies to reach more families across America," said Susie Buffett, chair of the Buffett Early Childhood Fund. "We've seen concrete progress on all fronts and with the proximity of Educare of Washington, D.C. to our nation's Capitol we expect even greater gains in the days to come. We will demonstrate what can be achieved when public funds are invested in early childhood programs. Our goal is for all children in poverty to succeed -- not just at school, but in life."

Educare programming is grounded in research-based strategies.  Each school provides full-day, year-round services; high staff/child ratios to support individualized attention (three teachers in classrooms with eight infants and toddlers; three teachers in classrooms of 17 preschool-aged children); high staff credentials (master's-degreed supervising teachers, lead teachers in each classroom with BA degrees, master's-degreed family support supervisors, etc.); an intensive focus on social-emotional development and early language development; and a commitment to rigorous, ongoing program evaluation and improvement.

Educare schools draw on all available resources -- Head Start and Early Head Start, local schools, child care, private support, and others -- to rigorously implement highly effective birth-to-five learning environments for at-risk children and families.

Each Educare school is a specially designed place that nurtures early learning. Educare schools are often built adjacent to an elementary school to send the message that the first five years of life are the first five years of learning, and to build more powerful connections with K-12 public education.

CONTACT:  Hanke Gratteau, 312-922-3863 Ext. 3383

SOURCE Ounce of Prevention Fund