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Greetings! I want to update you on the progress of the City of Learners initiative, a community-wide effort I launched shortly after becoming mayor. We are working to prepare our youngest citizens for the jobs, challenges and communities of tomorrow (our city's future depends on it!). As a major part of the initiative, Preschool Power unites advocates of early learning to ensure all children have access to at least one year of affordable, high-quality preschool (essential for their ability to succeed in school and life). You can help in this very important effort. Please learn more and sign the pledge at learntoearndayton.org/preschoolpower.

Also, please see our comprehensive report on year two of City of Learners. Thank you for your interest in helping our kids and our city succeed.

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Get Ready for Kindergarten

Being ready for kindergarten means much more than knowing how to count to 10 or sing the alphabet. Parents and families are a child’s first — and best! — teacher. Prepare your child for kindergarten by reading to him or her for at least 15 minutes every day and making every conversation a learning opportunity.

Ask your children questions. Talk to them about what they see and how they feel. Introduce them to “big words” and explain what they mean.

Go to 5 to Thrive Dayton to take the Kindergarten Readiness Check-Up and learn about more resources for children from birth to age 5.

5tothrive_hand logo

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What is Step Up to Quality?

Step Up to Quality is Ohio’s voluntary Star-Rating system for early childhood programs. Step Up to Quality makes it easier to find great childcare and preschool programs for your child. Ohio awards either a 1-, 2-, or 3-Star Rating based how many important standards a childcare program meets.

What makes Star-Rated Programs special?

Highly trained teachersFewer children per classroomEarly education curriculaA commitment to continuous improvementExceeding Ohio’s standards in health and safetyIf a program you are considering for your child is not listed here, ask if it is working on its Star Rating and encourage the program to Step Up to Quality!

For the most current list of Star-Rated programs, visit StepUpToQuality.org, or contact 4C for Children at 937-220-9660, x1330.

Pick a Preschool

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Boost Your Reader

Boost Your ReaderLearn to Earn Dayton / For children 0-5 / Boost Your ReaderAn AWEsome readerAn AWEsome reader

An “AWEsome Moment” is a fun, engaging conversation with your child that helps build his or her language skills.AWEsome Moments are particularly important when reading with your child.

Remember this trick:

A is for Ask questions to encourage your child to talk with you.W is for Wait at least 5 seconds. Children need more time than adults to think about their response.E is for Expand on your child’s response by repeating what he or she said and saying a bit more.Whenever and wherever you’re talking with your child — at home, at the grocery story, at a museum, in the car — make it AWEsome Moment!

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What to Read

Being ready for kindergarten involves much more than knowing the alphabet or being able to count to 10. As a parent or caregiver, you can help your child be prepared for success in school — and later in life! — by reading to him or her every day for 15 minutes.

Click here to see 10 great books for children in preschool through 3rd grade.

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Read On! Dayton Region

What is Read On Dayton?

Build a Super Reader

Read On! was started to make sure all children are Super Readers and can pass Ohio’s 3rd-grade reading proficiency test. Most children who don’t pass that test will not be promoted to 4th grade. To help your child become a Super Reader:Make sure your child is “kindergarten ready” when he or she starts school. Just 38.3% of Montgomery County kindergartners score well on Ohio’s kindergarten readiness test.Make sure your child is in school, and on time, everyday. Children who are absent 10% of the time from school have difficulty catching up.Enroll your child in high quality after-school and summer programs.Learning to read proficiently requires practice. But it’s a skill that children will use all of their lives. Reading to your child is one of the best gifts you can give!

Click to see the Read On! interactive toolkit.

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Read on! Dayton Region

What is Read On Dayton?

Read On! was started to make sure all children are Super Readers and can pass Ohio’s 3rd-grade reading proficiency test. Most children who don’t pass that test will not be promoted to 4th grade. To help your child become a Super Reader:Make sure your child is “kindergarten ready” when he or she starts school. Just 38.3% of Montgomery County kindergartners score well on Ohio’s kindergarten readiness test.Make sure your child is in school, and on time, everyday. Children who are absent 10% of the time from school have difficulty catching up.Enroll your child in high quality after-school and summer programs.Learning to read proficiently requires practice. But it’s a skill that children will use all of their lives. Reading to your child is one of the best gifts you can give!

Click to see the Read On! interactive toolkit.

Read On! was started to make sure all children are Super Readers and can pass Ohio’s 3rd-grade

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Strategies

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Strategies

Read A Preschool Promise for Montgomery County, recommendations presented to our County Commissioners.Promote the power of preschool!

Download and share our handout and pledge form.I believe that all children deserve to start school ready to learn. Ensuring that every child begins school on track academically and socially is one of the best investments we can make — as parents, employers and citizens.

Montgomery County’s competitiveness depends on our children getting a first-class education, starting when they are young.

Count me in to support a Preschool Promise that would ensure all children have access to at least one year of affordable high quality preschool.

I pledge to:__Keep learning about the Power of Preschool__Share what I am learning with others

By signing this pledge, I agree to get emails with quick updates about expanding high quality preschool opportunities in Montgomery County and ideas for how I can show my support for investing in our children.

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Strategies

HistoryLearn to Earn Dayton

Learn to Earn Dayton and ReadySetSoar are public-private partnerships in the Dayton region.ReadySetSoar was launched in the Fall of 2007 by the Montgomery County Family and Children First Council to improve the number of children who are kindergarten ready. Through partnerships with childcare and preschool providers, schools, and non-profit organizations, ReadySetSoar is focused on improving the quality of early care and education.ReadySetSoar has been generously funded by the Montgomery County Family and Children First Council, The Frank M. Tait Foundation, PNC Grow Up Great, Dayton Power & Light and the Montgomery County Educational Service Center.ReadySetSoar is housed within Learn to Earn Dayton, which is part of a national network of organizations dedicated to increasing the number of young people who have college degrees or a credential certifying that they have a skill.Learn to Earn Dayton and ReadySetSoar are natural partners because research shows that if children have high quality early childcare and go on to succeed in elementary school, they’re more likely to graduate from high school and earn college degrees. Preparing the next generation of highly skilled workers is a process that starts at birth and continues until our young adults are qualified for the world of work.

See the Learn to Earn Continuum.

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Strategies

VisionTogether with our partners, Learn to Earn Dayton and ReadySetSoar will work to ensure that every young person in the Dayton region is ready to learn by kindergarten and ready to earn upon graduation from college or after earning a post-high school certificate.MissionOur mission is to ensure that children in the Dayton region are successful students and ultimately successful in the world of work. Our community’s vitality and its attractiveness to employers depend on having educated citizens and a knowledgeable and skilled workforce.Learn to Earn Dayton and ReadySetSoar are focused on children’s success at six critical “moments”:Children must come to kindergarten “ready to learn.”They must be reading on grade-level at the end of 3rd grade.They must be proficient in 4th-grade math.They must graduate high school.They must continue their education beyond high school, earning either a college degree or a certificate attesting to their skill.They must graduate from college within 6 years.

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ReadySetSoar is the early learning initiative for Montgomery County and is part of Learn to Earn Dayton. ReadySetSoar was launched in the fall of 2007 by the Montgomery County Family and Children First Council and The Frank M. Tait Foundation with the goal of improving kindergarten readiness in Montgomery County. Since its inception, with support from the Iddings Foundation, the work of ReadySetSoar has expanded to focus on improving kindergarten readiness and third grade reading proficiency.

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Learn to Earn Dayton is working to increase the number of post-secondary credentials in the Dayton region. ReadySetSoar is helping build the foundation for Learn to Earn Dayton partners because research shows that children who have a high quality preschool and early educational experience are more likely to graduate from high school and pursue post-secondary credentials.ReadySetSoar is part of the Campaign for Grade Level Reading and is aligned on three key strategy areas:1) Kindergarten Readiness is targeted with the following initiatives:Five to ThrivePreschool PromisePassport to Kindergarten2) Summer and After School Learning are targeted with the following initiatives:Read On! Dayton RegionSummer Learning DayExpansion of high quality summer learning programs3) Attendance View our ReadySetSoar Advisory Cabinet members.

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Strategies

We're increasing the proportion of Americans with high quality college degrees, certificates or other credentials to 60% by 2025How We Define Success The Dayton region’s “Big Goal” is that, by 2025, 60% of adults between the ages of 25 and 64 will have a college degree or post-high school credential certifying that they have a skill.To make this happen, our Partners are committed to working together to meet each of the following benchmarks:60% of children will be “ready for kindergarten,” meaning that they will score at least in Band 3 of Ohio’s kindergarten readiness test.100% of children will read proficiently as measured by the 3rd Grade Reading Ohio Achievement Assessment (except for the limited number exempted under Ohio law).95% of high-school students will earn 5 credits in their freshman year.90% of high-school graduates will enroll in some type of post-secondary education that leads to a degree or credential.50% of high-school graduates will receive a college degree, while another 10% will earn a credential certifying that they have a skill.Here are two graphic representations — one more detailed than the other — of Learn to Earn Dayton’s goals and success measures.

Here’s our 2014 Annual Report.

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Strategies

Our Kids’ ProgressLearn to Earn DaytonWe and our partners in the Dayton region are tracking multiple important “measurements of success.”Each year we’re reporting how many children and young people are:“Ready to learn” based on Ohio’s kindergarten readiness testProficient in reading in 3rd grade as measured by Ohio’s reading testProficient in math in 4th grade as measured by Ohio’s math testGraduating from high schoolEnrolling in collegeGraduating from college within 6 years

Download a printable version of our progress report.

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City of Learners Continues With Celebration of Year TwoHave You Seen the Preschool Power Promise?Greetings! I want to update you on the progress of the City of Learners initiative, a community-wide effort I launched shortly after becoming mayor. We are working to prepare our youngest citizens for the jobs, challenges and communities of tomorrow(our city's future depends on it!). As a major part of the initiative, Preschool Power unites advocates of early learning to ensure all children have access to at least one year of affordable, high-quality preschool(essential for their ability to succeed in school and life). You can help in this very important effort. Please learn more and sign the pledge at learntoearndayton.org/preschoolpower.

Strategies

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Strategies

Also, please see our comprehensive report on year two of City of Learners. Thank you for your interest in helping our kids and our city succeed.

If you're an educator, you might want to know how to get your childcare center "Star-Rated" or how you can work more closely with your school district by joining a preschool coalition.

Policymaker? Learn what's happening to grow a more educated workforce in the Dayton region.

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Welcome!

If you're an educator, you might want to know how to get your childcare center "Star-Rated" or how you can work more closely with your school district by joining a preschool coalition.

Policymaker? Learn what's happening to grow a more educated workforce in the Dayton region.

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Step Up To Quality is the state’s voluntary Star-Rating program for childcare and preschool. All programs licensed by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services are eligible to apply for a Star Rating. Programs must meet quality benchmarks above and beyond basic licensing to earn a Star Rating.

Informational Brochure

ReadySetSoar has partnered with 4C For Children and Mini University to offer extra support to programs working on earning a Star Rating. Thanks to these collaborative efforts, the community has increased the number of Star-Rated programs in the Dayton region.

List of Star Rated Child Care & Preschool Programs in Montgomery County

To see what programs are Star-Rated using the state’s database, click here.

For more information, contact Robyn Lightcap.

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Goal 1: Get every child “kindergarten ready”Support home visiting programs for low-income families with children under age 5.

Increase the number of children who attend preschool, especially low-income children.

Increase the number of high quality “Star-Rated” preschool programs.

Encourage preschool programs and school districts to align their curricula.

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Goal 2: Get every child reading well in 3rd grade and proficient in math in 4th grade

Promote evidence-based reading and math programs in all of Montgomery County’s 16 school districts.

Support efforts to ensure all teachers have professional development in Common Core standards.

Promote investments that focus on 3rd-grade reading and 4th-grade mat.

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Goal 3: Ensure every high-school graduate is prepared for college or to earn a certificate attesting to a skill.

Promote and coordinate end-of-course exams for all 16 Montgomery County school districtsPromote and foster dual-enrollment courses resulting in college credit.

Foster professional development for teachers that ensures high-school-to-college alignment of curricula.

Promote remediation classes in high schools to reduce the number of students needing developmental courses in college.

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Goal 4: Ensure every Montgomery County young person earns a college degree or credential.

Create a culture in the Dayton region that values post-high school education.

Promote the establishment of scholarships.

Promote efforts that ensure students actually complete their post-high school education.

Educate families and young people about completing the Free Applicationfor Federal Financial Student Aid (FAFSA).

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Space Age WisdomIn October 2012, a parachute jumper took a leap of science and stepped off a platform from an altitude of close to 24 miles above the Earth’s surface, breaking the 1959 space jump record. The parachute jumper’s team helped him to reach these heights with a helium balloon attached to a space gondola/capsule. Because air density and temperature vary greatly with altitude in our atmosphere, the engineering team had to consider both the mass and strength of the materials used in construction of the entire high-altitude balloon. These materials needed to be safe and lightweight, and also be able to perform well in extreme cold conditions.

This 7th grade unit’s focus is the design of the balloon capsule and student teams are challenged to create a composite material that is capable of surpassing the space jump record due to its superior strength to mass ratio. Knowledge gained through research of both properties of the atmosphere and properties of composite materials are synthesized and applied while designing and creating sample composite materials. Through the use of a testing fixture, the teams will subject their composite materials to extreme conditions in order to test the material’s ability to withstand force under tensile and bending conditions. Teams record and analyze the test results, calculate strength to mass ratios, and determine the composite’s percent of change under these test conditions. Finally, teams compose a marketing proposal to persuade a potential sponsor company to fund the next potentially record-breaking space jump in order boost awareness and sales of its products. This world record will be possible because the company is being offered the use of the student team’s test results and improved composite material recommendations for the gondola/capsule.

Student Opportunities in STEM

STEM SUMMER LEARNING INSTITUTE FOR HIGH SCHOOLERS REVERSE ENGINEERING ELECTRIC MOTORS

STUDENT OPPORTUNITIES IN STEM: AIR CAMP, NASA’S WISH PROGRAM FOR HS GIRLS, SPACE CAMP SCHOLARSHIPS, TECHFEST, UNIVERSITY OF DAYTON WOMEN IN ENGINEERING, AND WRIGHT SCHOLAR RESEARH

ASSISTANT PROGRAM.

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Join YouTube sensation Mister C and his co-hosts Joe, Kim, and Melissa to explore out of this world experiments at our FREE 2016 science shows.Show content has been developed for students in grades 2-6 but audience members of all ages are invited.All minors must be accompanied by a chaperon for the duration of the show, unaccompanied minors will be turned away.Event Location:

Engineer’s Club of Dayton: 110 E Monument Ave, Dayton, OH 45402Event Details:

Doors Open at 9 a.m., Live show commencing at 9:30-10:30 a.m.Event Dates:

Live shows hosted the second Saturday of every month.*March 12, 2016: HeatApril 9, 2016: Flight

May 14, 2016: SoundJune 11, 2016: Motion

July 9, 2016: WaterAugust*: NO SHOW

September 10, 2016: WeatherOctober 29, 2016*: Physical/Chemical Changes

November 12, 2016: ElectricityDecember 10, 2016: Light

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STEM FELLOWSHIP PROGRAMNationally Recognized Teacher Training in STEM EducationAre you a PK-12 educator seeking sustained professional development in high-quality STEM Education? Our nationally recognized professional development model has been developed to support the evolution of your classroom offering with a focus on high-quality problem based learning experiences rooted in career connections, 21st century skills and collaboration. Our Educator Fellows have unique transformational experiences including building long-term relationships with local STEM Industry professionals and university professors through our collaborative 15-session model. As a result, our educators become members of a community of teacher-learners who share a common ambition to provide their students with rigorous and relevant classroom experiences that engage students’ minds and ignite their imaginations. Past participants report increased student engagement; student-led experiences; student-explored career connections; authentic learning experiences; ability to create and implement differentiated instruction and assessments; as well as increased knowledge pertaining to STEM Education. If this sounds like an experience you are looking for, consider applying for the 2015-2016 STEM Fellows season professional learning community this coming fall!

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Community

SPONSORSAFRLDayton Dev CoalitionNDEPSAICSRC

PARTNER PROGRAMS

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Contract ServicesThe Dayton Regional STEM Center offers for fee services for entities seeking professional development and consultation in the area of STEM education. Theses services include but are not limited to:Educator Professional DevelopmentAdministrator Professional DevelopmentSTEM Education Quality Framework trainingDayton Regional STEM Center Fellows modelIdeationSTEM curriculum generationSTEM program initiation or refinement (course, school or informal education)Inquiry trainingReformed Teacher Observational Protocol

*****If you are interested in these services, please contact Sandi Preiss at Sandi.Preiss@mcesc.org for a customized quote. The Dayton Regional STEM Center is a not for profit organization, business consultation and training services support our sustainable development.

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