http://buildingbrightfutures.org/johnsbury/about/

December 8, 2015

 

Caledonia & Southern Essex 
Building Bright Futures
Your source for all things early childhood
snowman-family.jpg
Happy Holidays!

At this special time of year, I would like to thank all of you for your dedication to the young children and families in Caledonia/ Southern Essex. Thank you for your continued support and partnerships to address the needs of our community in the areas of early care, health and education. I look forward to working with all of you in the upcoming year.

I hope that you are able to join us for our next BBF Regional Council meeting on December 21st at 5:30 pm to celebrate the holidays and our accomplishments this year!

Wishing you all the best in 2016!bench_heart.jpg

Dawn
 


 
Vermont's Early Learning Challenge - Race to the Top grant (ELC)
 
Vermont received four-year federal grant of $36.9 million to build and support a high-quality and accessible early childhood system.  This initiative focuses on preparing young children for kindergarten while improving infrastructure to support early childhood professionals and communities to meet their needs. See link below for updates on grant projects.

Early Learning Challenge Grant Update - Volume 11 - October 2015 


 
Early Learning Challenge Grant Update -Volume 12 November 2015

 


Above is a link to the course announcement and application to enroll in these classes. The deadline to apply is January 8. There is a $100.00 application fee for community members ($75.00 for VCCICC members).
 
There is limited space in the Communication class in St. Johnsbury and the Infant and Toddler Development class in Winooski. Applicants are encouraged to provide a 2nd choice, if applicable. If  VCCICC is unable to register you for the class of your choice, they will return your application fee in full.

If you have questions, please contact the staff at VCCICC at 802-985-2700 or [email protected]. or visit their website: http://www.vtchildcareindustry.org
 
These courses are being offered with huge savings because of support and funding from the State of VT Child Development Division and Vermont's Early Learning Challenge / Race to the Top Grant.
 
Caledonia & Southern Essex BBF Regional
Council News

Next Regional Council Meeting: Monday, December 21, 2015 from 5:30- 7:00 PM at the AHS Conference Room at the VT Department of Health in St. Johnsbury. Please join us for a Pot luck dinner and a review of our draft BBF Regional Action Plan.


Caledonia and Southern Essex Building Bright Futures Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Caledonia-Southern-Essex-Building-Bright-Futures/399069746925316  - Like us on Facebook!

 

 

A message from Lets Grow Kids:

Last month, we held seven community forums around the state to learn about Vermonters' challenges with and hopes for our child care system, and to empower those communities with new Vermont-specific data about the current affordability, accessibility and sustainability of child care in the state. The great feedback from participants proved highly illuminating and inspiring in our work to make sure every Vermont child who needs child care has access to high-quality, affordable programs.
We thought you might like to know what communities around Vermont are experiencing and discussing around this issue-so we pulled together the working notes from all of the forums and made them available on our website, here.
Also, we've compiled that new Vermont-specific data about our existing child care system into an infographic, which we're excited to share with you now (below). We hope you'll share this infographic widely on social media (look for it on our Facebook page). We'll also be adapting this to a more printer-friendly version that will be available on our website soon. For now, here's a link to the web-friendly infographic.
If you're feeling as inspired as we are by all of this energy around fixing Vermont's child care system, please sign the Pledge to show your support. You can also sign up to volunteer for the campaign as an Ambassador! Simply reply to this email to let us know you're interested.
As always, thanks for your support!
~The Let's Grow Kids Team


The Caledonia & Southern Essex BBF newsletter hopes to provide the latest news, research and local activities, as well as to connect and inspire those in the state's early childhood system. 

I invite you to send me your ideas, concerns and hopes for our children. I want to hear and learn from you! 
 
Dawn Powers
Caledonia & Southern Essex Building Bright Futures
 
(802) 673-6478
In This Issue

News from the
State BBF Council
 
Building Bright Futures seeks new Executive Director
 
BBF has identified a hiring committee with representatives from both the public and private sectors as well as regional and state-level partners.
Several applications were received and a first round of interviews has occurred. No additional updates are available at this time.
 
Advisory Meeting Schedule:

January 25, 2016 - 12-4
February 2016- No meeting
March 28, 2016 - 12-4

Project LAUNCH: Policy Brief

The latest policy brief from Project LAUNCH,  is available on the BBF website or by clicking on the link below:


 The policy brief is by Traci Sawyers, Early Childhood Health Policy Expert for BBF and Vermont's Project LAUNCH initiative.   
Quick Links