Community Corner

Branford Early Childhood Collaborative Receives Community Plan Implementation Grant

Press Release from Branford Early Childhood Collaborative 

The Branford Early Childhood Collaborative (BECC) recently announced grant support for implementing its early childhood community plan.  Discovery grants are funded by the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund, the Children’s Fund of Connecticut, and the Connecticut State Department of Education. This grant will help to ensure all children in Branford. regardless of race and income level, are ready for school by age five prepared to be successful learners by age nine.

“We are thrilled to have completed Branford’s Early Childhood Community Plan and are beginning to move into implementation of these strategies,” said Jodi Kelly, coordinator for the BECC. “We have worked hard over the past few years to create a local early childhood decision making body by engaging parents, teachers, local organizations, the town of Branford, the Board of Education, the United Way of Greater New Haven and community members all working together with the goal of making life a little better for Branford’s youngest residents.”

The goal of Discovery is to create an early childhood system that ensures optimal healthy development leading to early learning success for Connecticut children of all races and income levels. Discovery supports communities in establishing collaborative structures in which parents are full partners. Each community creates and implements its own community plan. Advocates and other stakeholders work to improve policy and practice at the local and state levels. Across Connecticut, 52 communities focus on improving the quality of and access to early care and education for children from birth through age five, improving the quality of PreK-3 education in ways that increase early language and literacy development among all children, improving young children’s health and social/emotional development, and increasing local and statewide capacity to measure and continue improvements.

The Branford Early Childhood Collaborative Discovery Program, launched in 2003, serves as a local resource for children from birth to age eight and their families. The BECC seeks to engage parents in their child’s early childhood education – birth through age eight, and in taking leadership roles within the community on behalf of all children.

“On behalf of the Town of Branford, I am pleased to commend and congratulate Branford Early Childhood Collaborative (BECC) for their fine work on behalf of Branford’s youngest citizens, as recognized by their recent grant award from the William C. Graustein Memorial Fund’s Discovery Community initiative,” said First Selectman of Branford Anthony J. DaRos. “The BECC has forged strong partnerships in support of the health, safety and education of Branford’s children, and their leadership and coordination within our community toward better outcomes for children has raised awareness to the priority of early childhood issues, especially education.”

“As the architects of our community plan for early childhood, now implemented in collaboration with the Town, the Board of Education and many stakeholders, the BECC is serving Branford well by informing and shaping policy,” DaRos continued.  “As we continue to implement our community plan to improve the lives of our kids, the Town will count on the expertise and collaborative strength of BECC toward our successes. I thank the many good people working in and supporting the BECC and the Graustein Memorial Fund for their generosity and leadership.”

“Discovery communities are building on their own local resources to develop an early childhood system that reflects the needs and values of the community,” said David M. Nee, Executive Director, William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund. “We are pleased to support local collaborative councils, along with our state partners, with both funding and training, so that children of all races and income levels can become successful learners.”

“For children to succeed in school, attention to their health and social-emotional development beginning at birth, is essential,” said Judith Meyers, President and CEO of the Children’s Fund of Connecticut and its nonprofit subsidiary the Child Health and Development Institute (CHDI). “We are pleased to help community collaboratives address early child health in all aspects of their work and engage health providers along with others to optimize the chances for children’s success in school and in life.”

Grants from the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund to Discovery communities across the state are made possible by partnerships with the State Department of Education, Children’s Fund of Connecticut, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Connecticut Center for School Change. William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund’s Discovery initiative offers grants and capacity building to 52 communities and six statewide partners.  Capacity building is currently available in the areas of collaboration, parent engagement, results-based accountability, community planning and decision-making, and facilitative leadership. To learn more, visit: http://discovery.wcgmf.org.


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