Brevard County Early Learning Coalition and Teachers Salute Statewide School Readiness and Early Learning Programs

The second anniversary of the state’s Voluntary Prekindergarten Program helps to shed light on the importance of early education in Florida.

As the school year begins, The Early Learning Coalition of Brevard County joins coalitions around the state to salute Florida’s early learning programs and commemorate the 2nd anniversary of Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK). Providers in Brevard joined to celebrate accomplishments and prepare for this year’s VPK at a recent meeting hosted by the Coalition. Many public and private VPK programs began the week of August 20th for current 4-year olds.

The statewide celebration began with a kick-off press conference in Tallahassee, hosted by the Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI), where Governor Charlie Crist and AWI Director Monesia T. Brown announced program milestones, highlighted accomplishments and indicated plans for the future of school readiness and early learning programs.

Early learning programs prepare students for future success in school and the state’s VPK program helps 4-year-olds learn critical skills prior to entering kindergarten. Both can be a vital part of fostering children’s growth and development. During program year 2006-07 (which included school year and summer sessions), more than 3,200 children participated in VPK in Brevard County and more than 7,000 took advantage of school readiness programs.

Research shows children who participate in high-quality early childhood development programs tend to have higher scores on math and reading achievement tests, have greater language skills, are better prepared to enter elementary school and are more likely to pursue secondary education. In fact, the Florida Department of Education released the Kindergarten Readiness Rates in June of this year, which indicated that children who participated in Florida’s VPK program were better prepared for kindergarten than those who did not. Last year, VPK services were delivered to 105,896 (47.7 percent) of the State’s 4-year-olds an impressive feat as compared to first-year implementation in other states. For the current year, 124,284 (54.8 percent) of 4-year olds have already been served and this number is likely to increase once final summer enrollment numbers have been submitted.

“We’ve seen the success that VPK and our other school readiness and early learning programs have had on local children,” says Melissa Murphy, Early Learning Coalition of Brevard County Executive Director. “With numerous programs in operation -- one to fit every need -- parents can consider us a resource for preparing their children for future achievement in school.”

The Agency for Workforce Innovation (AWI) is Florida’s lead state workforce agency and directly administers the state’s Labor Market Statistics program, Unemployment Compensation, Early Learning and Workforce Services programs. Florida’s Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) program is jointly administered by the Agency for Workforce Innovation, the Department of Education (DOE), and the Department of Children and Families (DCF). AWI administers the day-to-day operations of the program, including policy development, financial management and oversight of the 31 Early Learning Coalitions; DOE oversees standards, curricula and professional development; and DCF provides oversight of child care licensing, regulation, Florida’s Gold Seal Quality Care program and issues credentials for child care personnel.