Our collaboration effort with the pre-k priority
Pre-K Model Cohort Classroom Initiative
Child Care Resource Center is proud to be a community partner of The Pre-K Priority. Learn more about our collaborative work supporting children, families, and educators.
The Pre-K Priority: The Power of Collaborative Impact
The Pre-K Priority is a community coalition working together to improve the quality, accessibility, and number of Pre-K classrooms in Forsyth County in order to eliminate the persistent educational disparities among students entering Kindergarten. Its mission is to educate, engage, and mobilize the public and secure the commitment of civic leaders to support the establishment of a high-quality system of Pre-K programs available to all four-year-olds in Forsyth County.
As a systems change coalition, The Pre-K Priority includes parents, providers, business, and philanthropic partners, healthcare organizations, higher education institutions, faith-based groups, and community agencies that are child- and family-focused, including Child Care Resource Center.
The Pre-K Priority’s work is guided by 19 recommendations issued in conjunction with the Forsyth County Early Childhood Education Task Force and now led by The Pre-K Priority Steering Committee.
Key Initiatives include:
Community Awareness & Building Public Support
Sharing the benefits and importance of high-quality Pre-K for children, families, businesses, and community at large, while creating a campaign of support for local funding
The Pre-k model cohort classrooms
Supporting increased quality standards in a model cohort of 30 Pre-K classrooms representative of the Pre-K landscape across Forsyth County
PRe-K Registration
Making it easier for families to connect with the right early education choice for them
BE FIRST
Encouraging Early Childhood Education as a career path
PRE-K WORKS
Emphasizing the importance of high-quality Pre-K to our local workforce, employers, and economy
Family, Friend & Neighbor Caregiver Network
Providing local resources, training, and connection to FFN providers
Pre-K Model Cohort Classrooms
In 2023, the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners and the City of Winston-Salem invested $4 million of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for a unique two-year community initiative to support increased quality standards in a model cohort of 30 Pre-K classrooms representative of the Pre-K landscape across Forsyth County. Coalition partners of The Pre-K Priority collaborating to deliver distinct, critical components of the pilot include Child Care Resource Center, Smart Start of Forsyth County, Family Services, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, Forsyth Futures, and the Hispanic League.
Together, we are providing specific high-quality supports that were either limited or nonexistent to these 30 model cohort classrooms, teachers, students and families. Our work impacts nearly 400 Pre-K students and their families along with 60 Pre-K teachers across WS/FCS, Head Start, NC Pre-K, and independent/private Pre-K providers.
As part of the Pre-K Model Cohort Classroom initiative, Child Care Resource Center is providing professional development training and support to Lead Teachers and Assistant Teachers to boost skills, fidelity and confidence in delivering the highest-quality care and instruction. Our specialists are collaborating with Smart Start Success Coaches to ensure regular and frequent feedback.
“Child Care Resource Center is a trusted source for training/continuing education/advocacy for Early Education Providers,” said Katura Jackson, Executive Director of Child Care Resource Center. “For the Model Pre-K Classroom educators, we’re able to bring our expertise and experience to help them grow and strengthen their skills.”
Over the course of the Pre-K Model Cohort Classroom initiative, CCRC hosts regular in-person and virtual professional development workshops.
Together We're Making a Difference
Learn more about our collaborative, systems-change work by reading Our First Priority – A Year One Impact Report on Investing in the Children of Forsyth County. This report details our Pre-K Model Cohort Classrooms’ Year 1 milestones including improvements in teacher retention, Kindergarten readiness, and family engagement.
Watch The Video
“We are so grateful for the involvement and partnership of Child Care Resource Center as we work to structure an accessible, equitable, high-quality Pre-K system for Forsyth County,” said Leslie Mullinix, Project Director for The Pre-K Priority. “It is only through the collaboration of parents, child care leaders and experts in our community that this work is possible.”