North Monterey County CAT Spotlight | October 2017
As one of the original organizers for the Bright Beginnings North Monterey County Collaborative Action Team (CAT), Director of Student and Family Services Noemy Loveless uses her deep understanding of community needs and passion for early childhood development to collaborate on several successful initiatives, including a Summer Bridge Academy.
In North Monterey County, like many communities across the state, there is a large percentage of children that are not enrolled in an early education program – such as transitional kindergarten (TK) or preschool – before entering kindergarten. Without high quality early learning experiences, children’s development can lag behind their peers, and they may be less ready to succeed in school. Exposing children to key elements of kindergarten, from self-regulation and socialization with other children, to a formal school setting and meeting early literacy goals, was critical for Loveless and her team. “A summer ‘bridge’ program supports their preparedness for their first day of school at kindergarten,” Loveless explained. “Only about 25-30% of children are served through TK or California State Preschool programs. We wanted to capture that audience of children who were missing out.”
Held over the course of five weeks from 8am to 12pm, staffed with both a TK certified teacher and one educator for additional support, the Summer Bridge Academy ran concurrently at a site where other summer school programs were operating. “This made it more convenient for families and easier to leverage support from other programs: services, such as transportation to the facility, as well as providing breakfast and lunch to the children while they were participating in the program,” said Loveless. It gave the CAT the opportunity to work district-wide with various programs that are offered to all students in the community.
Click here to read the full North Monterey County CAT Spotlight.
North Monterey County CAT Spotlight | January 2017
Noemy Loveless has been a part of the Bright Beginnings’ North Monterey County (NMC) Community Alliance Early Years Collaborative Action Team (CAT) from the very start. As the Director of Student and Family Services of the Castro Plaza Family Resource Center at North Monterey County Unified School District, she is dedicated to helping parents and children thrive in our community.
For the last year and a half, the North Monterey County Community Alliance has worked together to create a strategic plan that focuses on cradle to career. “The cradle to career strategic plan works towards supporting children and families from the prenatal stage through their young adult life,” explains Loveless. This strategic plan has allowed the Early Years CAT to select an indicator to focus their efforts on increasing reading to children, which supports children being school ready and reading at 3rd grade reading level.
This past October, members of the North Monterey County Community Alliance participated in the StriveTogether training hosted by Bright Beginnings, Impact Monterey County and Bright Futures. Loveless and Bright Beginnings consultant experienced an aha-moment at the training.
Click here to read the full North Monterey County CAT Spotlight.
North Monterey County CAT Calendar
View Bright Beginnings’ calendar here for the next North Monterey County Collaborative Action Team meeting.
North Monterey County CAT Toolkit
Click here to access your CAT Toolkit that includes:
- Bright Beginnings CAT Logo
- Event Flyer Template
- Presentation Template
- Press Release Template