School Readiness Program

The purpose of the School Readiness Program is to positively affect the overall development of the child. Efforts focus on working directly with children, engaging families, targeting community members, and working with educators. These efforts help support and promote the important work necessary for the preparation of the young child's entry into kindergarten and beyond. Activities center around three concepts that validate the positive development of the child:

• the child being ready to enter school (kindergarten)
• the school's readiness for the child
• family and community support and services that contribute to the child's readiness for school

The Program is working to offer a number of services within nine school catchment areas, and include the following schools:

• Dool Elementary School - Calexico
• Jefferson Elementary School - Calexico
• Freemont Elementary School - Calipatria
• Dogwood Elementary School - Heber
• Emmet Finley Elementary School - Holtville
• Westmorland Elementary School - Westmorland
• Phil Swing Elementary School - Brawley
• Meadows Union School - El Centro

Activities are offered in the aforementioned school catchment areas vary and will depend on the needs and ability of the school site and available resources, which are:

Family Health and Community Resource Fairs that take place at individual school sites. These events help to create a bridge between schools and parents, as it introduces parents to the school and specifically targets families that have young children within the school's catchment area. In addition, a significant number of agencies offer valuable resources and information to families at these fairs. This is the Schedule of FY 2019-2020 Fairs.

The Home Visitation Project is a fantastic resource for families with young children in the School Readiness Program area. Through home visits from an experienced and well qualified social worker parents receive support for school through a variety of school readiness activities and materials to support the development of children identified as being 3-5 years of age.

Early Developmental Screening services are provided by the School Readiness social worker with the support of parents and/or other family members using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire. Screening services assist in identifying possible delays in development, in addition pinpointing needs to support development at an age appropriate level.

For more information please contact our Special Programs Director - Gustavo Galindo at: Phone Number: (760) 482-2988 or Email at grg@co.imperial.ca.us