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To The Leader

A four-person team from Orange County attended the first Texas Early Learning Community Convening January 27-29 in Austin, Texas.  

Over 120 early learning, program, and health service professionals throughout Texas gathered to build community coalitions designed to organize and leverage resources and build a cohesive plan of support for children ages birth to five. 

The coalition work is strongly aligned to the Texas Early Learning Strategic Plan, supporting the statewide vision to ensure all Texas children are ready for school and ready to learn. The community teams gained information on how to build strong partnerships to collaborate and collectively accomplish, that which cannot be achieved in isolation. These partnerships will be critical in adequately supporting the more than two million children ages birth to five who live in Texas. 

Team members heard from Texas state agency staff, including the Texas Education Agency, Texas Workforce Commission, Department of Family Protective Services, and Texas Health and Human Services, as well as community advocates and change leaders such as Libby Doggett, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Policy and Early Learning at the U.S. Department of Education, staff from the United Way Greater Austin, Commit Partnership Dallas, Early Learning Texas, Education Service Centers, and local Head Starts, child development centers, and My Health My Resource. Each presentation provided recommendations and guidance on developing strategies for communities to increase access and coordination of programs and services for children and families. 

Those attending from your community included Vicki Oceguera from North Early Learning Center, Carie Broussard from Mauriceville Elementary School, Connie Curphey from Dow, and Maureen McAllister from United Way of Orange County. 

For more information on how to support this coalition, contact Maureen McAllister at mmcallister@unitedwayorangecounty.org. 

This convening was supported through the Preschool Development Grant B-5 Planning Grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Health and Human Services, to Texas in an effort to support the birth to age five early learning system.