Goal:  

Implement an integrated service delivery system for early literacy and parent support services for the City and County of Charleston, by the summer of 2006

History/Background

Charleston had a well-established early childhood coalition, formed under Trident United Way Success By 6, prior to participating in the Cities Supporting Parents of Young Children project. The Director of the Mayor's Office for Children, Youth and Families has been a long term member of the coalition.  Dr. Bonnie Bella was chosen to represent the city and coalition at the NLC Cities Supporting Parents Leadership Academy in the Spring of 2005. 

Following the Leadership Academy, the coalition developed the PROPEL (Partners Realizing Opportunities to Promote Early Learning) Project using knowledge gained at the Academy.  The PROPEL Project was conceived to build the foundation for a comprehensive, community based system of early literacy and parent support services across the age spectrum from birth to school entry.

Three of the programs to be developed are directly related to programs that were presented at the Academy (Born To Read, Countdown to Kindergarten and a Book Club modeled after Rally Jacksonville).

The director of the Mayor's Office for Children, Youth and Families provides progress reports to the mayor on a regular basis.  Charleston is involving municipal leadership to build community awareness and support around parent and early literacy issues.  Mayor Joseph Riley is spearheading a county-wide dialogue about the need for unified community-based early literacy and parent support services, supported by the local municipalities. 

The city has brought together the area's Offices for Cultural Affairs and Parks and Recreation to create the plan for incorporating the PROPEL Project activities into existing community festivals.  The city, with leadership from the mayor, is championing Countdown to Kindergarten and the book club to the community and specifically identifying resources that will assist with the purchasing of children's books. 

The mayor is serving as the catalyst to mobilize community leaders, school board members, councilmembers and businesses in a campaign to make early literacy a priority for the entire community.  The mayor and city council are critical leaders in advocating public policy that improves the quality of early care and education in our community as well as across the state.

Progress Toward Goals

The PROPEL Project will include the following continuum of services to promote early literacy:

Born to Read (Prenatal/Birth):  Under the leadership of Mayor Joseph P. Riley, the City of Charleston launched Born to Read in Spring of 2006. Through this program, prospective and new parents receive "welcome baby" kits that encourage parents to read to their new baby. A private donor gave $20,000 to pay for the materials, and the city partnered with the public library, public health department, and medical university's children's hospital to launch the program. 

The city credits NLC's Leadership Academy for introducing the concept to the team, and then facilitating multiple connections to validate the program.  These include meeting with other city leaders operating the program, and going on a site visit that included Born to Read while attending the 2005 National Summit on Your City's Families.

Reach Out and Read (Infants): Building upon a small program established in two pediatric medical centers that primarily serve Medicaid and uninsured minority children (large Hispanic and African American population), a full early literacy program will be created to work intensively with the 6,500 children and their families who use the centers each year for medical care.

Physicians talk to parents during well baby checks about the importance of reading to their children and a bilingual literacy coordinator will work with the parents.

Ready for School (Toddlers):  The coalition will establish parent education programs to teach parents interactive literacy activities and positive parenting techniques.  Classes will be held in community-based organizations, such as community centers, churches, and non-profit organizations.  Some classes are for parents with their young children, and some are for parents alone.  
 
Raising a Reader (Preschool Literacy): Charleston secured $40,000 in state child care funds to establish the Raising a Reader program in child care centers across 12 counties. Anchored in the region's Child Care Resource and Referral program, Success By 6 purchased the license to be a community coordinator and received intensive training to implement the program.  Long-term, continued funding is expected.

This initiative is a turnkey early literacy and parent/teacher training program that provides literacy instruction to parents on how to read to their child and develop early language skills.

Countdown to Kindergarten (Kindergarten Prep): Countdown to Kindergarten is officially underway in the Low Country of South Carolina. Program staff recently obtained its license and everyone is excited about getting programming underway. Charleston is modeling their program after Boston's Countdown to Kindergarten initiative, which was featured at the March 2005 YEF Institute's Cities Supporting Parents of Young Children Leadership Academy.

Countdown targets parents of four-year-olds to help them with their child's transition to kindergarten.  Local businesses, government agencies, libraries, and schools host events that focus on literacy and other school readiness skills.  The city just partnered with Barnes & Noble, Trident United Way, a local radio station, and a local television station to give parents of four-year-olds a school calendar and a book per month that includes learning activities to be carried out at home.

Charleston is also incorporating a Mayor's book club into Countdown, which will be modeled after the RALLY Jacksonville initiative (also highlighted at the YEF Institute's Leadership Academy). RALLY Jacksonville is Mayor John Peyton's plan to get every child ready to read by: making early literacy a core value, improving the quality of local child care, and increasing the number of children who are ready for school at the beginning of kindergarten.  Charleston had the good fortune to hire a staff member from Jacksonville who has helped implement the program in 2006.

Other Progress

Charleston launched a Born Learning campaign that airs public service announcements and distributes high-quality written parenting materials in the community to inform parents about resources and information on child development. In addition to the PSAs, Success By 6 created its own ads offering parenting tips and invited local businesses to sponsor the ads.

The effort is off to a successful start, with more than 100 ads running each month, many of them during peak airtime, thanks to the support from local businesses. Each ad promotes the city's 24-hour 211 information hotline where parents can call to request additional information on child development resources. 

Success By 6 has also created its own television show that airs continuously (new shows weekly) on the local cable station.  This show features local experts and organizations who provide parents with information on child development, activities to do with their children, and community events.

The CSP team leads have met with all forms of media to discuss the early childhood initiatives. The PROPEL Project has been featured on the front page in a local newspaper describing the projects collaborations, partnerships, and the impact of early education on the community. Weekly city papers are going to run weekly ads on the importance of early reading. The city is sponsoring movies at one of the squares in downtown during the summer and they are going to run local and Born Learning PSA ads during the movie season.

In preparation for the First Day of School, Charleston hosted its 4th Annual "First Day Festival" on August 20, 2006, at Liberty Square. Mayor Riley hosted this free community celebration of education to welcome the beginning of a new school year and provide parents with information about student support services. With great support from media outlets, over 7,000 people attended and 80 businesses donated school supplies.