2023 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
$30,000 leveraged in grant funding received to open Community Classroom.
Able to hire a low-income mom who was struggling to support her kids. With OberlinKids, she has a job where she can bring the children to work with her.
To further advocacy efforts, a partnership with Groundwork Ohio was formed. Two parents and two community advocates were invited to speak on a panel in front of an Ohio HHS committee.
Playgroup now completely self-sufficient, regularly occurring, and no longer any need for OberlinKids oversight.
Core Activities
185 attendees at Community Classroom in first month after May launch.
900 literacy kits distributed through learning center, library, or OberlinKids centers (600 last year).
133 Leap Into Literacy attendees (80 kids, 53 adults). This program was created for OberlinKids by a speech pathologist and professional dancer.
Lessons Learned
Limiting the Community Classroom to “members only” increased the number of screenings in the community by encouraging families who needed screening to become members.
After years of operating with 1.5 staff people, adjustments were made to successfully maintain with only one full-time staff.
29 total, equal partners. After introducing the “advocate” role previously, it was determined it works better to have all partners on equal ground; regardless of their role.
Plans for Next Year
Plans in motion to create more “members only” exclusive events and perks, in order to encourage families to receive screenings.
In new office space, planning to create a family-friendly meeting space — piloting group sessions and OberlinKids co-sponsored events with partners in an effort to promote said partners.
Creating a larger group of parents as advocates. Looking to incentivize parents to come to events with “refer a friend”, gift cards, education, parenting issues, etc.
