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Bright EYES
Early Years Education Stewards
READY to LEARN & READY for LIFE
Awareness around the importance of quality early care and education programs has been raised throughout the country and Bright EYES is Longmont’s own initiative to promote quality programs for pre-school-aged children. The EYES in Bright EYES stands for Early Years Education Stewards and conveys our vision of Longmont’s role in providing the best possible opportunities for our community’s youngest learners.
The Bright EYES initiative was formed in 2003, when a local ad-hoc group of representatives from the City of Longmont, the St. Vrain Valley School District and several Longmont health and human service agencies formed to focus on ways that the Longmont community could help ensure that ALL Longmont children have a healthy start in life and are ready to learn when they enter school. Bright EYES hired its first project coordinator in March 2007, with funding provided by the City of Longmont. In April 2007, Bright EYES launched the Mayor’s Book Club program, which encourages 3 and 4 year olds and their parents and caregivers to read a new book together monthly.
In the fall of 2010, Bright EYES undertook a strategic planning initiative to realign its goals and strategies with a new decade. The following vision and mission statements came out of this strategic planning, as well as 2 important ongoing tasks:
Vision Statement: Longmont’s Early Learners: Ready for School. Ready for Life!
Mission Statement: Engaging and Connecting Longmont Area Families with Early Learning Resources and Opportunities
Our Tasks:
Seeking out the variety of financial resources for early learning opportunities for our underserved populations
Mapping the various early learning resources available in Longmont to identify current gaps
Mayor's Book Club
The Mayor’s Book Club was established in 2007 to not only help 3 and 4 year-olds develop a love for reading and learning at an early age, but to create a level playing field for all of our youngest learners. The “achievement gap” in Longmont, or the disparity in key academic scores, falls along socio-economic and ethnic lines. Our program is open to all 3-4 year olds in Longmont, but in an effort to close the achievement gap before Kindergarten, we make a special effort to recruit families who are lower income and newer immigrants.
Our program is bilingual, English and Spanish. Studies tell us that when children are literate in their primary language, then literacy in a second language is far easier to achieve. Bilingual family reading programs can increase the literacy of ALL family members. We also know that having books in the home is as important to academic success as the education level of a child’s parent. As we see our community’s foreign born population growing, it only makes sense to ensure that this program is accessible to all of our families.
Once a child joins the Mayor’s Book Club, he or she will receive a free book each month in the mail until they turn 5. The Mayor and a Spanish speaking community leader read the books we send on Longmont’s local access channel, Channel 8- tune in every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sat. & Sun. at 8:00 am and Tuesday & Thursday at 11:00 am. Children in the book club receive an official Mayor’s Book Club T-shirt.
To watch the reading's with the Mayor and all the wonderful kids on the Longmont's local access channel, Channel 8 click here: Mayor's Book Club
Please Note: This program is only available to families in the St. Vrain Valley School District area.
Registration Form
Apply On-Line
To change your Mayor's Book Club address, please e-mail your new information to: CYR@ci.longmont.co.us or call 303-651-8580
Mayor's Book Club Sponsors:
The Mayor's Book Club depends on grants, donations and sponsorships to pay for the books we send every month. If you enjoy the book club, please take a moment to find out more about our valuable sponsors and thank them for their support:
Learning to read begins with parents!
Join us for free workshops at the City of Longmont Youth Center (1050 Lashley Street). Help your children learn early reading skills, and have fun, too!
NO COST:
Bring your child along for fun. Workshops usually begin at 6pm.
There will be bilingual(English/Spanish) workshop leaders.
WORKSHOPS FOR 2012 HAVE BEEN COMPLETED.
If you would like to participate in future workshops, please contact Mayor's Book Club Staff at CYR@ci.longmont.co.us , or call 303-651-8580.
Wild Plum Center:
The newly-remodeled Wild Plum Center at 839 Meeker Street in Longmont has been transformed into a Family Resource Center that houses early education classrooms as well as resources and activities for the adjacent Kensington neighborhood. Wild Plum Center for Young Children and Families (a Head Start program) (http://www.longmontchildrenscouncil.org/) operates 4 comprehensive school readiness classrooms at the Wild Plum Center that offer a high-quality pre-school curriculum to eligible children. In addition, the St. Vrain Family Center (http://www.stvrainfamilycenter.org/) is housed at the Wild Plum Center for Young Children and Families and offers classes to the greater Longmont community such as Positive Parenting, Surviving Divorce and Boot Camp for New Dads as well as Safe Exchange services for families.
How to Get Involved: Early care and education is a community issue – not just a family issue or a government issue. Everyone benefits from children who are prepared to go to school and succeed in school. To learn more about the Bright EYES project and to become involved in this community-wide effort to ensure that all Longmont children are Ready to Learn, Ready For Life.
Join the Bright EYES initiative by:
In Partnership
Are you looking for quality child care for your child? Qualistar, which rates childcare programs in your area, has an online search engine for quality childcare and preschool programs. You will need to register, but then will be able to do a customized online search. Here is the link: http://www.qualistar.org/child_care/
For additional resources: http://www.bouldercountyhelp.org
For more information or to change your mailing address for the Mayor's Book Club monthly book mailings please email CYR@ci.longmont.co.us or call at 303-651-8580
