Introduction

• Several years ago the United Way of Mercer County partnered with the local school districts to develop a Success by Six^TM pre-K summer program. This program has been directly responsible for assisting in school-readiness training of over 500 pre-K children throughout our communities. Studies overwhelmingly prove that the success of a community's future is directly linked to the educational success of its youth.

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Why School Readiness Matters

• The first six to eight years of every child's life forms the foundation for his or her future success.
• This formative period develops the child's capacity to think, trust, love, and develop a strong and positive sense of self.
• Parents play an important role as the first teacher of their children.

 The Dilemma

• Children have fewer opportunities for quality learning as increasing numbers of parents are entering the workforce or working longer hours due to economic realities.
• Kindergarten teachers estimate that one child in three enters the classroom without the basic skills of learning.
• Forty-six percent of kindergarten teachers reported that half or more of their students have inadequate academic skills and difficulty following directions or working independently.

 How It Works

• The six-week Pre-K Summer Program is a collaborative effort between United Way, Head Start, and Brookfield, Farrell, Greenville, Grove City, Hermitage, Lakeview, Mercer, Reynolds, Sharon, Sharpsville, & West Middlesex Area School districts.
• School districts pre-screen children to determine eligibility.
• In the past four years, over 500 children have participated in the program beginning in June and concluding in August.
• Children receive 135 hours of academic instruction in their school district by a primary school district teacher and a Head Start teacher.
• Academic scholarships are available for children who qualify for the program.
• Approximately 17% of the entering Kindergarten class attended the summer program.
• In most cases, children who have been identified as special needs students have increased their learning ability during the summer program and have been removed from that status.

 Why it Works

• This evidence-based program has statistically validated increased proficiency in the areas of reading, language and social skills.
• The brain develops rapidly at an early age.
• Hours spent learning at this age level is more powerful than months of learning in middle age.
• The children who start behind often stay behind.
• The children who are involved in successful early education programs are more likely to graduate high school itself and mature into responsible adults, likelier to be married, with higher educational attainment and better jobs.
• The facts and research clearly indicate that it makes far more sense to "frontload" the system to assure success, rather than "backload" it to compensate for failure.
• To really understand the importance of early education one need only look at States that use rates of low proficiency in reading in early years (2^nd thru 4^th grades) to estimate the amount of jail cells in the next decade.

 Benefits to Children

• Increases school preparedness
• Increases post-secondary education
• Increases long-term economic success
• Improves occupational success
• Improves quality of life

 Benefits to Business

• Develops workforce for 21st century
• Reduces cost of retraining
• Factor in employer relocation decision making
• Reduces absenteeism
• Increases job productivity rate

Benefits to Society

• Reduces special education expenses
• Reduces alcohol and drug use
• Reduces teen pregnancy and social dependence
• Increases graduation rates
• Increases earning capacity/income tax paid
• Reduces crime rates and corrections costs

Summary

To fully understand the magnitude of this program and how future generations will benefit from its existence is measurable. Know that for every $1 invested in early childhood development education over $17 is saved through reduced social service dependency, lessened juvenile delinquency issues, and judicial costs. Children who feel successful as a student early in life will most likely remain successful later in life. The welfare programs in place today operated by government are costly and provide no proactive approach to breeching the generational cycle of individual and family dependency. United Way of Mercer County volunteers believe that education is a great equalizer for individuals and enables them to be successful.

 For More Information

For more information on the United Way of Mercer County's Success by Six^TM Pre-K Summer Program please call (724) 981-1884.

 Parents Comments

I feel "Success by Six" was a very positive time for my son. He has grown in so many ways this past six weeks. He has made many new friends and is excited about school starting.   I would recommend this program to anyone.

"Success by Six" is an excellent program. It really did wonders for my son. I hope my other two children can participate in the program when the time comes.

My daughter has learned so much in the past six weeks. Not only is she learning, she is having fun while being taught, which makes it so much better!

 I'm amazed by how much my son has learned in this program. When he first started the program he was behind, now he can write his name, recognizes numbers and letters, and can write them. The "Success by Six" program is heaven sent.