We continue to deepen our focus on family engagement in 2022. We worked closely with our two Parent Ambassadors to help lead our family engagement work. This included: continued outreach and awareness about Sparkler, a mobile app for parents with children ages 0-5, working closely with the statewide OEC Parent Cabinet, and taking a leadership role in our new 10-member Parent Advisory. We also relaunched the Stamford Early Childhood Fair, bringing fun and resources for families with young children, reaching 500 attendees at this free event in Mill River Park. In addition, we conducted a social media campaign to support enrollment in home visiting and parenting programs and developed a New Parent Resources page on our website, printing and distributing postcards in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Ukranian.

The goal of our professional development work is to make connections and build skills among staff who work in early childhood. We conducted virtual sessions on topics including: Health & Safety, Emotional Connection, Supports for Students with Diverse Needs, Social Emotional Development, the Importance of Play, and Positive Strategies for Students. The Stamford Early Childhood Fair, which we ran for the first time since the pandemic, brought together 50 early childhood education providers and community support organizations. Finally, to support our Pre-K to K Transition work, we brought together both Kindergarten and Pre-School staff for Kindergarten Insight Day.  

The transition from early childhood to Kindergarten is an important milestone for children and families. To support this transition, we facilitate sharing information from early childhood staff and parents with Kindergarten teachers about entering K students through the Pre-Kindergarten Transition Summary (PKTS) and SparklerK. The PKTS is filled out by preschool and family childcare providers. Sparkler is included in the Kindergarten registration process and parents can fill out an Ages and Stages Questionnaire. Additionally, we work with Stamford Public Schools to conduct Kindergarten 101, an information session for preschool and family childcare providers about the Kindergarten Registration process, PKTS, and SparklerK so they can best support families through this important process.  

Summer 2022 was the third year of our Stamford Summer Literacy Initiative (SSLI). In partnership with the Ferguson Library, we ran a public awareness campaign on the importance of summer reading through bus shelter adds, flyers, and social media, and we hired four literacy coaches and a literacy coordinator to work in three summer camps to reduce summer reading loss. We worked with 116 students in grades K-3 at the Boys and Girls Club, ROSCCO, and INTEMPO, and all of the almost 400 students at the camps benefited from the dedicated literacy block built into the daily camp schedule, the family meet and greets, and the book giveaways coordinated through the Ferguson Library and Stamford Public Education Foundation. The full 2022 report can be found here. 

A key priority in 2022 was engaging with families around the importance of reading. In addition to the public awareness campaign, in the summer of 2022, we conducted six family engagement meet and greet events at camp drop off and pick up, sharing information about the library’s summer reading program, accessing library programs and resources, what literacy support is available at the camps, and free book giveaways. We also conducted two parent workshops, a virtual one on Supporting Social Emotional Wellness for Students, and in person workshop on how to Help your Child Learn to Read. Both included Spanish language interpretation. 

The goal of our professional development work is to share tools, resources, and strategies used in Stamford Public Schools with our out of school time providers. In 2022 we conducted two Library Services for Educators workshops, one workshop on Supporting Social Emotional Wellness for Students, and four trainings for our Summer Literacy Initiative camp providers sharing strategies for practicing literacy in fun ways with children at camp with 92 camp staff. We also launched our 2022-2023 professional development series in November 2022 reviewing assessments and an overview of the early literacy curriculum used in Stamford Public Schools. 

Bridge to College is a free program that provides as-needed resources, support, and guidance to students between high school graduation and the first day of college classes. Bridge to College is open to all Stamford graduating seniors, no matter what college they plan to attend, to combat “summer melt.” In 2022, the program reached 978 seniors with regular messaging and reminders through Signal Vine about completing the college enrollment process. Of these seniors, 69 students received additional, one-on-one support, from one of four school counselors working with the B2C program. Students also participated in seven Keys to Success workshops focused on providing students with information that would help prepare them for their first year in school. See our 2022 report for more information. 

As youth prepare to enter the workforce, it is important for them to strengthen their non-academic essential skills to be prepared for employment, competitive in their career, and confident in their abilities. Skill Building for Success creates a common language, framework, and tools for the community to help prepare students for a successful transition into higher education and careers. In 2022, we continued our partnership to embed Skill Building for Success into the Mayor’s Youth Employment Program and the Early College Studies program at Stamford High School by conducting introductory workshops for students and tracking pre and post surveys. We also use the skills tracker directly with the student interns working with us.  

In 2022 we launched our paid Youth Leadership Internship program by hiring five high school students to work with us. Meet our interns here. The goal of the internship program is twofold: first, to center youth voices, perspectives and lived experience in our college and career readiness work; and second, to help youth build their skills and take action. This year our youth planned a youth information session on the Police Accountability Bill, facilitated a student feedback session for the Alliance for Black Achievement, started a club at Westhill High School called Speak Your Truth, and helped plan our first ever Teen Fair to take place in early 2023. 

No-cost school meals for all students is critically important to the health and wellbeing of our entire community. According to the United Way’s ALICE in Focus report on children, as recently as fall 2021 41% of CT ALICE households living paycheck to paycheck experienced food insecurity. Childhood food insecurity has negative effects on physical and mental health, cognitive function, and academic performance. During the pandemic, the demand for free school meals increased by 50%, demonstrating that many students who had not previously been eligible for free meals were now in need of them. No-cost school meals reduces absenteeism and stigma, shaming and bullying and offers time and cost savings to families and the school district. SC2C and UWWC have partnered with the City of Stamford, Stamford Public Schools, End Hunger CT!, and the Stamford Food Collaborative to provide trainings to our community partners on how we can combat childhood hunger and continue to provide no-cost school meals to all Stamford Public School students.

The Empathy project is an afterschool program designed to spark conversation about the role that empathy plays in our lives: at school, at home, in the community and world. Empathy is the ability to notice, understand, and share the emotions of others. Empathy helps us to take someone else’s perspective, understand each others’ emotions, connect with one another, show compassion, make good social choices, and ultimately develop lasting relationships. We believe in the power of empathy to transform the student’s experiences. Developing empathy in middle childhood promotes healthy helping behaviors in adulthood.

A collaboration between Stamford Stands Against Racism, Stamford Cradle to Career, DOMUS, and Community Health Center, Inc. That provided trainings for community members and commuity partners who wanted to gain skills and strategies to address racial injustice and systemic racism to advance racial equity. This year’s focus was on demystifying the CT Police Accountability Law how philanthropic organizations prioritize racial equity and made commitments to funding racial equity.