Fair in Ansonia to mark Week of the Young Child

ANSONIA - 

In celebration of the Week of the Young Child, April 6-12, the Eighth 
Annual Play & Learn Fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 5 at Warsaw Park, 119 Pulaski Highway.

This free event is being 
underwritten through the generosity of the Valley Directors Network, 
the School Readiness Councils in Ansonia, Derby, Seymour and Shelton, 
the Early Childhood Task Force, and the Katharine Matthies Foundation.



“We are extremely excited to organize this popular family event for the community again,” said Sharon Kelley, Co-Chair of the Valley Directors Network.

“In years past, we have attracted crowds of over 1,000 people," Kelley said. "This year we want to make this free event even bigger and better than ever.”


The Play & Learn Fair will feature many fun, hands-on activities for 
children and their parents, including Touch A Truck and many 
exhibitors.
Early childhood providers will set up learning centers: 
including, art, blocks, math, music, science, sensory, and more.

An Infant & Toddler play space will be featured along with free snacks 
and informational handouts.


The theme for the 2014 Week of the Young Child Celebration is, “Early Years are Learning Years.”


This annual celebration is sponsored by the National Association for 
the Education of Young Children, the world’s largest early 
childhood education association.


The purpose of the Week of the Young Child is to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs.



For more information, contact Kelley, Co-Chair of the 
Valley Directors Network, 203-736-2554 or 
juldaynursery@sbcglobalnet.



The Valley Directors Network, a collaborative, was founded in 2005 to 
foster support for children, families, and staff in the field of early 
care and education.
The group has been responsible for many regional family events and professional development trainings.
Membership currently includes 50 childcare professionals and family support organizations in the lower Naugatuck Valley and surrounding areas.


This is a press release from the Valley Directors Network.

Crisco backs Malloy's universal pre-K plan

HARTFORD - Calling it a moral responsibility, state Sen. Joseph J. Crisco, Jr. , D-Woodbridge, today added his support to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s plan to achieve universal access to pre-kindergarten in Connecticut.

“This is a commitment that Connecticut should have made a long time ago,” Crisco said.
“We know that access to quality early childhood education improves academic and life achievement. I’m thrilled we now have a governor who recognizes the importance of investing in education, and sees that this is one of the best commitments we can make to Connecticut’s future.”

The Governor’s plan calls for full-day pre-K opportunities for 1,020 children for fiscal year 2015, and will expand to serve a total of 4,010 additional children by 2019.
Eligibility will be based on income and will use the existing eligibility requirements for the state’s School Readiness program.

The plan will provide full-day pre-K for approximately 1,000 additional children for each of the first three years and 500 children during each of the last two years of the plan. The additional 1,020 opportunities for the coming year will become available at the beginning of the 2015 school year.

In addition to increasing opportunities, the plan will also increase reimbursement rates for state-funded Child Day Care Centers and School Readiness programs, and provide funding for startup grants for classrooms.

The proposal calls on the Office of Early Childhood to develop a plan regarding universal pre-K access to submit to the Governor by Jan. 1, 2015.

“There will be many intricate, comprehensive arguments made in favor of this proposal in the coming months, but there is a much more basic reason to do it,” Crisco said. “It is simply and undeniably the right thing to do."


This is a press release from Crisco's office.

Crisco: School readiness options coming to Ansonia, Naugatuck, Hamden

Senator lauds education reform

 State Sen. Joseph J. Crisco, Jr., D-Woodbridge, this week welcomed confirmation from the governor’s office of 46 new school readiness opportunities for eligible children in Ansonia, Hamden, and Naugatuck.
The 21 new pre-kindergarten slots in Ansonia, 10 in Hamden, and 15 in Naugatuck are among the 1,000 created statewide by this year’s new public education reform law.

Beyond these opportunities to help early learners acquire essential skills for kindergarten, the new law enhances primary school reading programs, creates or fortifies 20 school-based health centers, and establishes ten school-based family resource centers.

“When this bill was under consideration I felt strongly the state should maximize its commitment to school readiness, and I’m delighted the resulting law provides for 1,000 young students, 46 of them right here in the 17^th Senatorial District,” Crisco said. “These opportunities will help ensure these students enter kindergarten with adequate and age-appropriate communications and math skills. “

“Just as importantly, school readiness programs help teachers, parents, and students alike identify potential obstacles to learning so they can be addressed in a timely fashion, and they provide social and emotional readiness as well,” Crisco added.

All told, $6.775 million in new funding for increased access to high-quality early childhood education is made available through PA 12-116, An Act Concerning Education Reform. 

The slots are to be administered through the Connecticut School Readiness program, a state Department of Education initiative designed to strengthen and increase access to high-quality preschool for children ages three and four.

“Connecticut has an additional, time-sensitive need to emphasize school readiness among its youngest students so every one of them is fully prepared to maximize his or her educational opportunity,”  Crisco said.  “Connecticut has an untenable achievement gap between its highest-performing students and those who don’t perform as well. Early childhood education to ensure school readiness is the best antidote for that achievement gap.”

The above is taken from a release from Crisco's office.