2022 Snapshot: Education
Mission
Develop solutions to ensure every child in Oberlin enters school ready to learn.
Why Kindergarten Readiness?
Kindergarten Readiness is a is a strong indicator of future success:
National research shows, every dollar invested in early education yields a 13x return on investment;
When students are behind in kindergarten, statistics show that they rarely catch up;
In Oberlin, when the collaborative was founded (2014), there was a higher level of poverty and lower level of kindergarten readiness than the county average.
Wins
To expand outreach efforts, partnered with IGA to have registration info put into free reusable bags being given out by the store.
27 organizations in OberlinKids, 11 Partners and 16 Advocates, after the creation of the Advocate role last year.
Playgroups, resuming after COVID shutdowns, evolved to now be volunteer-led and OberlinKids supported; with additional playgroups branching off at different locations in Oberlin.
Core Activities
51% of eligible 44074 families are enrolled in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library.
600 literacy kits distributed through learning center, library, or OberlinKids centers; 100% of Kendal students received kits.
15 attendees at playgroups per week, with as many as 40 participating at some sessions.
Lessons Learned
Because of the lack of affordable housing, challenging job market, and local hiring freezes, the overall population in Oberlin has decreased; and with it enrollment in OberlinKids and the Oberlin School District.
Finding the exact amount of eligible children for OberlinKids is not difficult as Imagination Library, JFS, and the Census all have different counts for population data.
Students testing at “Demonstrating” on the KRA has seen a sharp drop since COVID, largely due to centers being closed. Yearly data shows:
2019: 60.4%
2020: 59.6%
2021: 31.9%
2022: 44.4%
Plans for Next Year
Community Classrooms to open at former Prospect Elementary.
Pop up community-led outreach and programming, using OberlinKids resources, is planned to reach traditionally underserved populations not currently being reached.
After the goal of 50 literacy kits per month this year was met, with demand still high, 70 literacy kits per month (840 total) are planned for next year.
