This longform piece, written by guest contributor Adriane Blackman, details how Yoncalla Early Works has driven an ecosystem of community and care to support the health and wellbeing of children and families in rural, southern Oregon.
The school season is upon us once more, carrying with it the usual back-to-school hustle and bustle of drop-offs and pick-ups, prepping school lunches, homework, and a whirlwind of after-school activities. While some of us may not feel entirely prepared for the...
We're sitting across the screen with Dani Boylan, director of early learning at St. Helens Early Learning. This is her second year running Kinder Camp after several years of teaching preschool. Students from three schools (McBride, Columbia City, and Lewis and Clark) gather in the kindergarten classes of the latter’s elementary school, filling the hallways with joyful sounds. Though their program faced significant state budget cuts which limited the scope for 2023, teachers and administrators in St. Helens worked together to reorganize for the year. They made a plan that made the most of the resources available, setting up intentionally small class sizes and offering support for children with varying social emotional needs. I eagerly pull my list of questions in front of me, and we begin our virtual interview.
Oregon Relief Nurseries provide critical support to families with young children ages 0-5. They currently serve about 3,500 young children throughout the state and are an integral part of Oregon’s early childhood system.
In Oregon, Kindergarten Readiness Partnership and Innovation Grants (KPI) fund a diverse range of programming that supports early school readiness and family engagement, as well as professional development for early childhood and early grades educators. Data shows...
Education Week’s latest report on education quality gives Oregon a C+ and a ranking of 32nd in the country. When broken down into three stages of a student’s life, (early foundations, school years, and adult outcomes) the analysis finds that Oregon does slightly...
On April 22 and April 29, Children’s Institute and the Oregon Association for the Education of Young Children (ORAEYC) teamed up to host the Oregon premier of the groundbreaking early childhood documentary No Small Matter. Hundreds of parents, child...
By Allan Golston Reprinted from Medium with permission from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Allan Golston visits with students at the Earl Boyles preschool. Principal Ericka Guynes could see the problem clearly. Students at Earl Boyles — a Portland,...
The transition to kindergarten is tough for a lot of kids, but for those with developmental delays and disabilities, it can be especially challenging. Tristan Davis, who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder through Early Intervention (EI) services offered by...
Oregon's nationally recognized Relief Nursery model serves families with children ages 0–5 who are most at-risk for abuse and neglect. In 2019, Children’s Institute is joining a coalition of early childhood advocates to request an additional $5.6 million in funding...
