Status Update: Q3 2023
BACKBONE UPDATES
Collective Impact Learning Community
Several times a year, Raising Readers Nashville partners come together for a Collective Impact Learning Community (CILC) to share Action Team updates, celebrate successes, and discuss both barriers and best practices that help everyone move forward. The most recent one on Friday, September 22 was well attended by the partner community, where they reported out about their progress and upcoming work.
In this session, partners also shared what they considered progress in addition to their strategies. Overwhelmingly, many responses pointed toward the building and strengthening of relationships among organizations and “re-energizing collective community.” On an organizational level, this translated to stronger awareness of fellow organizations, and opportunities to share and align resources to serve clients.
We want to thank each and every person who attended and made this event a success!
Bright Start TN Align Summit
Raising Readers Nashville partners were excited to attend the inaugural Bright Start TN Align Summit presented by Tennesseans for Quality Early Education (TQEE). This event brought together business, nonprofit, civic, and education leaders from communities across the state to learn together and discuss innovation solutions to advance early care and education initiatives in Tennessee.
ACTION TEAM UPDATES
Increasing kindergarten readiness
Action Team 2 helped children and families in the important transition to kindergarten, by holding a Kindergarten Round-Up at J.E. Moss Elementary School in Antioch. Families were able to ask questions and get key information at the event, helping everyone to feel more informed and confident for the first day of school. Post-event surveys were circulated as well, to gain feedback that will help expand the program. The team also finalized MNPS kindergarten enrollment access at all Nashville Public Library locations, and are training NPL staff on the process.
A new name for NAECTC
Action Team 4 represents the work of a collaborative group that’s been known as Nashville Area Early Childhood Training Collaborative (NAECTC). They’ve recently completed a naming exercise, and have engaged in messaging work. With logo development underway, they are excited to reveal their new name and logo in the coming months. Stay tuned!
IGNITE! conference builds community for educators
Action Team 4, in partnership with United Way of Greater Nashville, held their early childhood education conference for educators, on July 25 - 28. Titled "Ignite! Purpose and Intention," this four-day event featured two days of in-person sessions, as well as two days of virtual programming. This conference supports the community-building strategies of the team, helping to connect both new and veteran teachers to resources and trainings. With sold-out in-person days and over 500 attendees, this event definitely brought together the community!
Updates on child care facility expansion guide
Content has been finalized for the child care expansion guide, and the team is currently in the process of preparing it for layout and publication. Additionally, policy recommendations were developed from the research of this guide, and will be reviewed in November by the recently re-formed policy team, as they begin their work in developing connections with policymakers and other stakeholders.
Health provider meeting success
Well-organized meetings often yield great information, and Action Team 5’s first convening of early childhood providers on August 30 was an example of that. The team provided ample facilitators which allowed attendees to break out into small groups, leading to more engaging conversation around how to improve the ways we connect families to resources. Building on this success, the team is networking with groups across the city to engage with key stakeholders in an accessible, direct way.