Thursday, November 1, 2018
Milwaukee Public Schools, in collaboration with the City of Milwaukee and other public and private partners, has announced a new initiative and call to action to improve early childhood education across the city. Ninety-five percent of a child's brain development occurs in the first five years, the timeframe that is the focus of this initiative.
"As a community, we must answer the question of how we are positively influencing those first five years for every child in the city," Superintendent Dr. Keith Posley said. "A child does not create the conditions and opportunities that he or she is born into – as a community, we do, and we can change those conditions. Building a strong foundation sets the stage for ambitious instruction."
MPS and city leaders are joining together to build on past momentum and push forward with the MKE Early Childhood Initiative. The City of Milwaukee has hired a qualified individual to help spearhead early childhood literacy work. MPS is working with childcare partners to see how Milwaukee can create consistency of high quality learning experiences from birth to age 5 that improves literacy but also supports social and emotional development.
Four focus areas have been identified for the initiative.
- Ensuring every Milwaukee family has access to high-quality childcare
- Improving MPS early literacy scores
- Increasing state reimbursement rates for day care centers
- Leveraging resources to ensure a high-quality learning experience from daycare to school
The City of Milwaukee and MPS are seeking partners to join in this effort. Interested parties should contact the MPS Office of Academics at 414-777-7806, or Ptosha Davis at the City of Milwaukee at 414-286-3272 or ptosha.davis@milwaukee.gov.