SEPTEMBER 14, 2005

ATTENDANCE: Betsy Bain, Chairwoman; Linda Wilock; Lynn Sadlon; Mary Peniston; Jenny Lynn Carey; Donna Rogers Jones; Marie Ange Nichcolas; Susan Bonk; Scarlett Beltre; Mary Compagna; Jeanne Taylor Hard; Curtis Law; Marilyn Lewis; Rev. Janet Hodge; Victoria Schilling

STAFF: Barbara Smart; Mary Budrawich;

OTHER: Ed Schmidt, Mayor’s Assistant; Pat Balaban; Elaine Andersen; Christine Dudek-Ratushnuk; Paula Trujillo; Shari Konn Andrade; Devon Rayment; Sally Grose; Gerri Degnan; George Hensinger; Sonja Ahuja; Dona Ditrio; Ellen Kraft; Carlin Hill (9:50 a.m.); Jennifer Wood

MEETING CALL TO ORDER

Chairwoman Bain called the meeting to order at 9:36 a.m. She welcomed everyone back, as they had not met during the summer.

Ms. Bain said that Ms. Budrawich was the consultant through CES on the School Readiness Council from the inception of the program. At the end of August, Norwalk Public Schools created a full-time position for an Early Childhood Specialist. The Graustein Memorial Fund provided the funds. Ms. Budrawich has taken the position. Ms. Budrawich said she was overwhelmed by the support and commitment of Norwalk Public Schools for early childhood education.

APPROVAL OF THE JUNE MINUTES

** MS. SCHLLING MOVED TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF JUNE 8, 2005.

The corrections to the minutes are as follows:

On page 1, under Attendance, “Mary Windt” should be added.
On page 2, 2nd paragraph, 3rd sentence, it should read Ms. Mary “Windt”, not Wenn.
On page 4, under Regional/State update, 4th sentence, it should read for the 61 “family resource” centers.

** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

UPDATES

A. School Readiness Grant, Programs and Issues

Ms. Wilock said that they received their letter of award on the School Readiness Grant, in the amount of $2,435,571 for the year 2005-06. That was a slight increase over the last year, and with that increase comes the stipulation that the reimbursement rate for full-day, full-year slots increase by $250.00. Also, at least 70% of the $250.00 be used for some staff reimbursement that would increase retention. The remaining 30% could go to staff or professional development. There wasn’t enough funding to increase the capacity. They ended up with 293 full-day, full-year slots and 21 part-day slots.

Ms. Hill arrived at 9:50 p.m.

1. CHEFA

Ms. Bain said that the City applied to CHEFA for construction funds to do renovations and a small addition to Nathaniel Ely, a former elementary school building owned by the City. The Head Start program operates there. Ms. Carlyn Hill said the CHEFA grant has been awarded and they are now working with the architectural firm of Becker and Becker, to do the plans. Becker and Becker did the renovations on Hillandale in Stamford, and the Marvin. The renovations at Nathaniel Ely should be done in two years.

B. Quality Enhancement

Ms. Wilock said they have received informal notification that the grants submitted were acceptable, and the letter of award should be here shortly.

C. Kids Start Smart: The Norwalk Discovery Initiative

Ms. Bain said this year they will have joint meetings on the alternate months. The meetings will be on the second Wednesday of each month, in October, December, February, April and June, from 9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

Ms. Peniston mentioned as a reminder that the Mayor wants to have a plan for universal access. She said the joint meeting held earlier this year was helpful in outlining each group’s responsibilities.

D. Fairfield County Community Foundation Grant

Ms. Budrawich said that the Norwalk School Readiness Council was the recipient of a generous grant from the Fairfield County Community Foundation. The focus of that money was to provide support to early care and education programs in Norwalk around young children’s mental health. It is being implemented with a partnership with the Center for Child Guidance of mid-Fairfield and Dr. Gail Melanson, who is the mental health specialist. They didn’t receive the level of requests that they expected for assistance from the programs, around specific classroom situations and specific individual children. With the permission of the Fairfield County Foundation, they expanded what Dr. Melanson and offered professional development activities. They offered three evening activities for awareness for early care and education providers around children’s mental health. The programs were well attended. They may be able to continue Dr. Melanson’s services for this year, with the generous permission of the foundation.

E. Regional/State Update

1. SDE – Kindergarten Assessment

Ms. Budrawich said the school readiness legislation is amended. They added the creation of a statewide kindergarten assessment for the purpose of identifying levels of school readiness. Mr. George Coleman, the Assistant Commissioner, will lead the group over the next few years to lead the assessment for Connecticut kindergarten until 2009.

Ms. Jennifer Wood arrived at 10:10 p.m.

Ms. Bain said that the Norwalk Children’s Foundation had a program this summer at Norwalk Community College. Ms. Bain introduced Ms. Jennifer Wood, the Director of the Lab School at Norwalk Community College. She has been there for 6 years, and she teaches adjunct there also. She said the Norwalk Children’s Foundation approached her in early May to provide an enrichment, engagement, and exposure program for children who otherwise wouldn’t have a program. They had 21 children from NEON that enrolled, and 80% of them were Hispanic. The maximum number of slots is 32. They were issued library cards, they focused on reading one book a week, and they took field trips to the museum. Assessments were provided by NEON at the beginning of the program, language samples were taken during the middle of the program, and assessments were done at the end of the program. Dr. William Brown will do a formal evaluation of the child’s progress and will assess the entire program.

Ms. Wood and Ms. Hill were highly complimented for their efforts in a 4-week time frame to put the program together and go forward. Ms. Sadlon suggested that they use the results for kindergarten. Ms. Hill said that the requirements were the child commitment and the parent commitment. Ms. Wood said that transportation was provided for the children. They had 80% or more of parent attendance on the five parent nights, which lasted about 1 ½ hours long. Siblings attended also, and food was provided.

Ms. Ahuja said that it was a great program, and it met the needs of the community. Ms. Budrawich asked about the credentials of the teachers. There were two classrooms, one with 11 students and another one with 10 students. One teacher in each room had a Bachelor’s Degree, one had a CDA and the Assistant had an either a CDA or an Associate. Ms. Beltre volunteered to help in the future. Ms. Trujillo asked if there was a possibility of expanding the program next summer. That has not been decided yet. Ms. Budrawich said the committee has to be vigilant in making sure it continues to run, sustain itself, and expands. Ms. Bain thanked Ms. Wood for her time.

Mr. Schmidt arrived at 10:40 p.m.

SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS

A. Executive Committee

Ms. Bain said that this committee continues to meet monthly to review issues of monitoring and planning for upcoming meetings and overseeing budgets for grants.

B. Informal Care

Ms. Sadlon said that informal care is defined as relatives - grandparents, aunts, kith & kin providers in Norwalk - who care for young children. The program is a good way to find children who stay home. There is a newsletter that is published. She suggested if anyone knew of a child in this situation to let her know.

C. Provider Network

Ms. Bain explained that there are two Board Members, Jenny-Lynn Carey, and Gerri Degnan in the network among 4 others. Ms. Carey said that they have done some emergency training to be more prepared. How do they formalize evacuation procedures? Ms. Bain said that in her new position, Ms. Budrawich would act as a liaison between the School Readiness Council and the provider network. Ms. Bain said that Mr. Dolhancryck, the Director of Combined Dispatch, would be the initial contact. Mr. Schmidt added that Mr. Dolhancryk is in the process of coordinating all the evacuation procedures for the City of Norwalk. The reverse 9-11 program in place for principals and city employees, but not schools. Mr. Schmidt suggested that the schools get on the list.

1. Connecticut Annual Report

Ms. Budrawich said that another requirement of the state is to conduct an annual evaluation of the provider networks. There are 10 quality components that need to be filled out. She provided copies of the evaluation form. They are equally concerned about the birth to three years of age and the development.

D. Review & Selection

This committee meets in the spring.

E. Program Committee

Ms. Budrawich said this committee organizes early development and will meet in early October to outline a schedule of the year.

F. Transition

Ms. Rosemary Scullane was the Transition coordinator, and she has left the position. The role was incorporated into Ms. Budrawich’s position.

G. Nominating

This takes place in the springtime as terms end and vacancies become available.

OTHER

Ms. Budrawich provided some flyers outlining some programs at Norwalk Community College.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Ms. Schilling said there was a sign up sheet provided for people who wanted to receive the new resource book.

ADJOURNMENT

** MR. LAW MOVED TO ADJOURN.
** MOTION PASSED UNANIMOMUSLY.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:05 a.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Carolyn Marr
Telesco Secretarial Services

Back to Previous Page	Back to Home Page