EDUCATION

The mission of the Education Initiative is to continuously improve the number of children who enter the school years ready to learn, and the number of children who successfully navigate through their teen years. Our vision is to create an atmosphere where all children have the hope and the tools to reach their full potential. Our core value is that our best opportunity for systemic change is with our children and therefore our energies are well invested in this group.

The key attributes to this initiative are as follows:

• Access to affordable, quality early learning programs,
• Access to out-of-school programs.

We have partnered with the following organizations for a three year period to ensure that we are fulfilling these aspirations. The amounts shown indicate the three year grant total:

Early Learning Programs		Out of School Programs
Bearcamp Valley School and Children's Center $45,000 Born Learning in the Lakes Region $34,500 annual (see below) Community Health & Hospice Pediatric Care Management Program $34,500 Inter-Lakes Day Care Center $75,000 Lakes Region Child Care Services $135,000 Ossipee Crossings Child Care Center $30,000 UpStream Parenting Programs Whole Village Child Care Center $30,000		Boys and Girls Club of the Lakes Region $48,000 Kingswood Youth Center $30,000 Pemi Youth Center $45,000
In an effort to enhance the above, Lakes Region United Way has committed substantial resources to the Born Learning Partnership in the Lakes Region. This initiative seeks to systemically change how we approach early childhood learning, and how we can improve upon the success of children as they enter into their school years. With the backing of Lakes Region Community Services and the WLNH Children's Auction, the Lakes Region United Way is prepared to invest over $100,000 in the next few years to ensure desired outcomes are achieved. Visit the new Born Learning section of our website. For more information, visit the following web sites: www.bornlearning.org, www.lrecfr.org, and http://www.lrcsc.org Our UpStream Parenting Team continues to aggressively bring much needed parenting programs to the Lakes Region in a systemic approach to changing awareness and behaviors for new and inexperienced parents. For a list of upcoming parenting programs offered by UpStream and others in the community, see our Parenting Events page. For more information on UpStream, click here. Head Start Resource Directory The Head Start 2009-2010 Resource Directory is available by clicking here. You have permission to use the guide in any way that is helpful to you. Because Head Start serves families PN to age 5, we include only those resources that match with the needs of our families. Please contact Linda at lclairmont@bmcap-lrfc.org if you find any errors or omissions.