Smart Beginnings of the Shenandoah Valley was awarded one of only three Innovative Partnership grants to expand collaborative initiatives designed to improve access to high-quality early childhood education for young children in Harrisonburg.
Smart Beginnings Shenandoah Valley is a regional initiative housed at the United Way of Harrisonburg Rockingham focused on improving the educational outcome for young children throughout the community.
With a grant award of $65,000- Smart Beginnings will work to expand the current 4T program at Harrisonburg High School with enhanced partnership opportunities between
Smart Beginnings, Harrisonburg High School, Bridgewater College, and Sentara RMH Community Health programs. Enhancing a two generational approach to increase educational outcomes for both the high school parents and their children, the grant funding will be used to increase quality of the current 4T classroom, enhance the family and consumer science program at the high school, incorporate parenting supports for the teen mothers, provide parenting components to the mother’s current education at the high school, and provide an in-depth educational pathway for both the children and their parents.
“We are very excited about this opportunity to enhance our work in supporting our students.” Says Cynthia Prieto, Principal at Harrisonburg High School. “This grant will allow for an innovative two generational approach to ensuring not only that our current students complete high school and move into successful career options, but that our future students (the infants and toddlers) have the opportunity for success from the start.”
First launched in 2015, Innovative Partnership grants support local communities as they implement and document – and potentially replicate – local, data-informed innovations for improving access to high quality early education for at-risk children, thereby readying children, families and schools for kindergarten success. Other grantees include Richmond/Southeast and Central Virginia Smart Beginnings. As a part of each grant, all three of the grantees will receive technical assistance from VECF in addition to grant funds.
“These creative initiatives are continuing our collective work to drive innovation to better serve the children of Virginia,” said Kathy Glazer, president of the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation. “We look forward to sharing the results with our Smart Beginnings partners and community stakeholders across the Commonwealth.”
More information about the Innovative Partnership grants can be found at www.vecf.org.
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