Early Childhood Development Town Hall Set for Upper Shore on Tuesday, April 16

Upper Shore Regional Gathering Takes Place at Chesapeake College

BALTIMORE – The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE), Maryland Department of Health (MDH), and the Maryland Department of Human Services (MSDH), in partnership with Ready At Five, will host the third of nine Regional Town Halls on Tuesday, April 16.

The town hall series focuses on the State’s early care and education system. This week’s town hall is designed to engage the communities of Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s and Talbot Counties in a conversation about how to improve access to high-quality early childhood programs and services. In Caroline, Dorchester and Talbot Counties fewer than half of the students demonstrated school readiness on Maryland’s Kindergarten Readiness Assessment. More than half of the students in Kent and Queen Anne’s Counties demonstrated school readiness; both counties exceeded the state average of 47%. Research shows that high-quality opportunities, especially for children from low-income families, can help provide students with the skills and knowledge they need for success in school.

Meetings will be held both in the morning and evening at Chesapeake College.

“Our goal is to identify the needs of the Upper Shore communities from our most important partners: parents, caregivers, early childhood educators, policymakers, business leaders and other stakeholders,” said Steven Hills, Assistant State Superintendent for MSDE’s Division of Early Childhood Development. “Their insight into our greatest challenges and opportunities to building a well-coordinated and integrated early care and education system will help shape the future for children in Maryland.”

Maryland was recently awarded a Preschool Development Birth through Five (PDG B-5) Grant, a $10.6 million federal grant that will help states conduct a comprehensive statewide birth through five needs assessment followed by in-depth strategic planning. The grant also focuses on enhancing parent choice and expanding the current mixed-delivery system consisting of a wide range of provider types and settings, including child care centers and home-based child care providers, Head Start and Early Head Start, state pre-kindergarten, early intervention and special education services, and home visiting services across the public, private and faith-based sectors.

Representatives from the State, Ready At Five, and local child- and family-serving agencies will share updates on a variety of topics related to early childhood care and education, family supports, new data from Maryland’s Kindergarten Readiness Assessment, and opportunities through the new PDG B-5 grant. Each session will also include opportunities for the public to contribute to developing the State’s prenatal to age five needs assessment.

Feedback and findings from the town hall meeting will be used to develop and inform a new prenatal to age five strategic plan for Maryland by identifying significant needs and priorities. More information about the Regional Town Halls, including registration and handouts, can be found at https://earlychildhood.marylandpublicschools.org/townhalls.

Location:

Chesapeake College
The Higher Education Building
1000 College Circle
Wye Mills, MD 21679

Schedule:

Morning Session:
Registration 8:30 AM-9:15 AM
Program 9:30AM-11:30AM
Evening Session:
Registration 5:00PM-6:00PM
Program 6:00PM-8:00PM
Continental breakfast will be provided at the morning session registration, and a light dinner will be served at the evening session registration.