WHO WE ARE
Overview
Monroe Smart Start is
a coalition of public and private
organizations, businesses, and parents who
are working together to ensure that local
children enter school healthy, well-cared
for, and ready to succeed in school and in
life.
More Info...
We're focusing on those first five
years because that's when most brain
development occurs and the foundations for
the skills and attributes necessary to
succeed in school and eventually become
productive, involved citizens are
established. Those first five years are
critical to a child's development and
lifetime success.
A child's success
relies on good health, positive early
childhood experiences, and strong families.
Therefore, we're building a county-wide
movement - bringing together young
children's families, early care and
education providers, health and human
service providers, business and faith
community leaders, county residents and our
local cities - to work in new ways, across
traditional sectors and systems that will
more effectively and efficiently support the
healthy development and school readiness of
our children.
Our approach is
illustrated by the following graphic that
recognizes the part we all play in
supporting children’s healthy development
and future success:
Our
county is currently developing a plan,
Monroe County Plan for a Smart Start (when
this plan is completed and ready to be
posted, there will be a link) that contains
goals and strategies to lead us to our
mission to bring families and communities
together to make sure children enter
kindergarten healthy, happy and ready to
succeed.
Our Framework
Our Steering Committee
Our Working
Groups/Members
Our History
The Community Foundation of Bloomington and
Monroe County (CFBMC) and the United Way of
Monroe County joined forces as founding
members of Monroe Smart Start following a
year of investigation by the Education Task
Force of CFBMC. They gathered input from
local stakeholders about area needs and
opportunities and studied successful models
from other communities before taking the
step of hiring a director to form a local
coalition to focus both resources and
awareness on the critical early years.
More Info...
This decision to focus on birth to five
is well-supported in the research
literature. This research documents the many
benefits of supporting this period of
intense cognitive, social and emotional
development, when the foundations of
learning are laid. Early childhood
development efforts can significantly
increase success in school, graduation
rates, workforce readiness, job productivity
and community engagement. And, such work is
linked to meaningful reductions in special
education costs, grade repetition, teenage
pregnancy, crime rates, welfare dependency,
and job training costs. The Community
Foundation and United Way realized that
increasing parents’ knowledge and the
supports available to them would be a wise
investment of the community’s resources.
Every child deserves a Smart Start, and the
communities of Monroe County stand to
benefit!
In February of 2009, the Coalition had its first formal meeting of all interested people at Ivy Tech of Bloomington. Since
then, about 50
individuals who represent many aspects of
our communities have been meeting on a
monthly basis in five different working
groups to develop a plan to guide the
efforts of Monroe Smart Start. Each of these
groups represents stakeholders in our county
who influence school readiness in our
children birth to five. By Fall 2010, the strategic plan will be completed, and work will begin on specific efforts and initiatives.
For a description
of each of the working groups, click on one
or more of the links below. Each of these groups includes a variety
of people.
Community Working Group
Early Care and Education
K-12 Educators
Parent/Primary Caregiver
Physical/Mental Health Providers
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