Greenwich United Way Direct Impact Programs Launched

From Greenwich UW: Greenwich United Way, in collaboration with Impact Partners Family Centers, YMCA of Greenwich and Greenwich Public Schools, introduced a new initiative under the Greenwich United Way Direct Impact Programs during this month's Community Planning Council meeting on Tuesday, May 15 at Greenwich Library. The two-pronged initiative is called Early Childhood Achievement Gap Solutions (ECAGS) and was developed to narrow the Achievement Gap in Greenwich. The event was held at the Cole Auditorium and included a keynote address titled 'The Journey from Adversity to Health, Hope and Resilience: What's in your backpack?' by Dr. Janice Gruendel Ph.D. a leading expert on early childhood education. This event marked the first Direct Impact Program launch for Greenwich United Way.

The keynote, presented by Dr. Gruendel, focused on the importance of toxic stress and its multi-generational adverse effects on a household and community. During her presentation, she applauded the Greenwich United Way for working to understand the cause of the growing Achievement Gap in the community and for raising the money to launch a new effort. "I am so proud to be here, I'm so proud of the process that you've gone through, a very orderly science-oriented process. I am so proud that you have the courage and the bravery to figure out how to engage with families from the start, from the start of their kids, and be in a humble relationship that can allow these children to be equally vibrant and successful with their non-at-risk peers. So, bravo Greenwich!" said Gruendel as she concluded her presentation.

Key stakeholders were in attendance and learned how the Greenwich United Way plans to monitor ECAGS results over the next three years with input from their Impact Partners. "To ensure that this Direct Impact Program delivers expected results and makes a positive impact on the community we are working with data provided by Greenwich Public Schools to track children and families in the program," said David Rabin, Greenwich United Way CEO. He continued, “The goal is to allow at-risk children to enter kindergarten on a level playing field with their non-at-risk peers.”

“The Greenwich United Way partnership in support of future and current Greenwich Public School students contributes to growing a vibrant Greenwich community. With focus, attention, and efforts, the Greenwich community has coalesced around Early Childhood Achievement Gap Solutions in an effort to eradicate pervasive gaps that are evident as early as during the preschool years. With this intervention program and services model, our most vulnerable youth receive expert attention, care, and support in an effort to better prepare them to access educational experiences” said Dr. Jill Gildea, Superintendent, Greenwich Public Schools.

During the event, Greenwich First Selectman, Peter Tesei said, “This once again shows the leadership of the Greenwich United Way bringing the community together to meet a need". ECAGS utilizes a two-pronged approach. The first, Parents as Teachers (PAT), focuses on delivering services to families with children from prenatal through kindergarten. The second prong supports community preschools with instructional coaching. PAT is a 30-year-old proven data-driven solution designed to close the achievement gap for families who are entering kindergarten. According to research, at-risk children in Greenwich are entering kindergarten 28 to 36 points behind their non-at-risk peers. The second prong of this program targets children three to five years old by placing a preschool instructional coach in 13 preschool classrooms to enhance and enrich those curriculums.

A Yale University study showed that inserting an instructional coach in preschools is eight times more effective than sending those teachers to traditional workshops. Research also showed that the achievement gap starts before kindergarten and when at-risk children go through both programs they will enter kindergarten on a level playing field with their non-at-risk peers. To learn more about Greenwich United Way Direct Impact Programs, please contact Director of Community Impact, Robert Moore, (rmoore@greenwichunitedway.org).

Image Via Greenwich UW