Fulton County Center for Families

FultonCountyNews McConnellsburg, PA PAGE B12 THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012 . The Fulton County News . FULTON COUNTY REPORT TO THE COMMUNITY Quality Early Childhood Education in Fulton County Helping children reach their promise through quality early education! • There are 916 children under the age of 5 in Fulton County • 74.8% live in economically at-risk families, up to 300% of poverty, compared to the state average of 58.4 • 11.3 % of Third graders in local school districts scored below proficient on teh 2010 PSSA reading test. Introduction to your LOCAL EDUCATION AND RESOURCE NETWORK Fulton County’s Local Education and Resourc Network (LEARN), formerly Community Engagement Group began in 2004. The Fulton County Local Education and Resource Network Team (LEARN) welcomes all interested individuals or groups to become involved to improve the quality of early education in Fulton County. There are many ways to volunteer, from visiting with local officials, assisting in community outreach and school transition events. If you would like more information, please contact the Local Education and Resource Network Coordinator, Jamie Taylor, 717-485-5038 Participating Agencies State Health Center 717-485-5137 Child Care Information Services CCIS 717-263-6549 or 1-800-682-5702 Fulton County Library McConnellsburg & Hustontown 717-485-5327 or 717-987-3606 COPE—Community Outreach Prevention Education 717-485-4417 Early Intervention 717-709-4321 or 1-800-841-3593 Tuscarora Intermediate Unit (TIU) Early Intervention Program 814-542-2501 or 717-899-7143 Local Interagency Coordinating Council (LICC) 717-485-5038 Bedford/Fulton Head Start 1-877-ALSMKID or 814-624-3200 Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts 44 three and four year olds are being served by Southern Ful-ton SD and Bedford/Fulton Head Start providing children with high quality prekindergarten education. Keystone Stars 5.8% of Fulton County’s children under 5 are enrolled in Key-stone STARS child care programs. – Fulton County Center for Families is the highest accredited child care facility in Fulton County with a Keystone STARS II Child Care Works Approximately 12 children through age five receive child care works subsidy on a monthly average Early Intervention 121 children (13.2%) under age five in Fulton County received Early Intervention Head Start 8.5% of Fulton County’s Children are served by Head Start 78 children participate in federally funded Head Start and Ear-ly Head Start programs. *You can find out more about how each county’s risk level is determined in the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning Program Reach and Risk Report at www.ocdelresearh.org 3rd Annual Fulton County Kids Fest Families from across the county came out to Tri State Community Health Center on Saturday, May 21, 2011 for the Local Interagency Coordinating Council/LEARN Third Annual Kids Fest. More than 200 people showed up to join in a day of no-cost family oriented fun. The LICC/LEARN is a group of area agencies and service providers related to the field of early childhood education. Representatives from these organ-izations were on hand to provide parents with information about local ECE opportunities while providing their kids with free, fun activities and enter-tainment. When children weren't busy checking out the moon bounce, rock wall, or dunking booth, they also took part in various crafts and activities. Many children spent time making bubble cones, face paintings, and dancing. Goals for 2012-2013 Join in public events to foster growth, educate parents, government, businesses, schools, and the early learning community regarding PA Promise For Children Build relationships with business leaders to gain recognition of the importance of early education and quality care in Fulton County Provide opportunities to review and improve school readiness and transition process in Fulton County In crease awareness of families in early childhood education program-ming, regarding issues and strategies to demonstrate their support to legislatures Continue to link with school districts and early learning providers to increase family collaboration and involvement with the school and transition process. OCDEL Programs Keystone STARS Keystone STARS promotes quality in child care and Head Start programs. Programs that partici-pate in Keystone STARS earn a Stars 1 to Star 4 level based on quality standards. When looking for child care, ask if they participate in Keystone STARS Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts Pennsylvania Pre-K Counts provides high quality pre-kindergarten opportunities to three and four year olds at no cost to families. Children from age three until the entry age for Kindergarten are eligible to apply. PA Pre-K Counts is targeted to children at risk of school failure, either be-cause of income, language (English is not the first language), or special needs issues. Child Care Works Child Care Works subsidized child care program provides financial help to pay for child care for families who meet work and income requirements. To be eligible, families must earn 200% of the federal poverty level or less, such as a family of four earning $42,400 a year, and meet certain work requirements. Parents can apply online or at their Child Care Information Services (CCIS) agency. CCIS agencies also offer parents a wealth of resources on how to find the best care for their child. Fulton County Local Education and Resource Network Team Fulton County Center for Families 22438 Great Cove Road, Suite 106 McConnellsburg, PA 17233 Phone: 717-485-5038 Fax: 717-485-4505 E-mail: jtaylor@fccfamilies.com SUCCESSES from 2011-2012 Transition into an early learning or school setting All families registering children for Pre K or K were provided with parent education materials informing them of strategies to ensure school success All families registering children for Pre K or K were provided with a “going to school” booklet. This was individualized for each school district having pic-tures of the school, classroom, bathrooms, playground, and cafeteria. This book was designed to ease the anxiety for children entering school for the first time. Act as a local resource on quality early learning opportunities October is PA Promise for Children Month. District Judge Wendy Mellott read to the Keystone Star II Fulton County Center for Families Pre School Child Care center. Published 5 early learning testimonials from parents in Fulton County to PA’s Promise for Children website. Published information about local efforts through the Pa Promise Website. 4th Annual Fulton County Kids Fest Please Join us this year at Southern Fulton Elementary School on May 19, 2012 from 10:00-1:00. For more information, contact Jamie Taylor at 717-485-5038. ext 1 Fulton County Community Café Family Engagement and Support Community Cafes are a series of guided conversations, based on the Strengthening Fam-ilies Protective Factors Framework, which address leadership development and parent part-nership. These conversations are hosted by parent leaders who use the World Café tech-nique to increase community wisdom, build parent voices and facilitate action to improve lives for children. It is a process that is designed, planned and implemented by parents, working with their community partners. The Café was held at the McConnellsburg United Presbyterian Church on November 10, 2011. Over 60 parents, service providers, and community partners attended the event. The group was led in a series of small group conversations based on questions that were prepared in advance. They jotted notes and drew pictures of their discussions on chart pa-per laid out on the tables. After small group discussions, the large group reconvened to “har-vest” their thoughts and ideas. They also discussed what would happen if this event happened regularly in the community. Several participants were interested in continuing this conversation in the future and dis-cussed scheduling a smaller, more targeted follow-up café. Fulton County Public Schools Central Fulton School District McConnellsburg Elementary 151 Cherry Street, McConnellsburg, PA 17233 717-485-4438 Alicia Mellott, Principal Forbes Road School District Forbes Road Elementary 159 Red Bird Drive, Waterfall, PA 16689 814-685-3865 Paul Swope, Principal Southern Fulton School District Southern Fulton Elementary 13083 Buck Valley Road, Warfordsburg, PA 17267 717-294-3400 Theresa Corle, Principal Stop in and like us on facebook. www.facebook.com/fccfamilies <pagedata>21:0.00902050734:0.996900201:1.00183678:-0.00354768918</pagedata>