Being ready for school is a combination of age, growth and experience. I will develop at my own rate, but you can help me prepare.

The Virginia Early Childhood Foundation has awarded Orange County a grant to look at the infrastructure related to young children, early education and quality child care for young children.

The VECF is a public-private partnership, founded in 2005. Their mission is to provide leadership to foster Smart Beginnings for all young children in Virginia and through them a vital future for the Commonwealth.

The Foundation provides grants, training and technical assistance to local and regional Smart Beginnings initiatives. They also collaborate with state government, the business community, parents and early childhood leaders to implement a long-term strategy for improving school-readiness for all young children, ages birth-5.

The years from birth to age five represents an extraordinarily vigorous period of growth and development. During this time, we have the opportunity to provide children with a strong foundation for their educational, mental, physical, emotional and social development. Investment in parents and children early on:

Yet, many of Virginia’s children enter kindergarten without the basic skills needed to be ready to learn, threatening the human capital of Virginia’s workforce and economy.

1. •Lay the foundation needed to maximize later cognitive and social capabilities, school achievements, and life success.
   

2. •Reap extraordinary benefits - not only for each individual child, but also for our communities, our workforce and Virginia’s economy