Smarter Students & Stronger Families: Setting Up Students and Families for Lifelong Success
While the City of Chattanooga is not in the school business, that didn’t stop Mayor Andy Berke from focusing on the education and health of Chattanooga’s residents, young and old.
When Mayor Berke took office, he created the Department of Youth and Family Development to provide wrap-around services to all of Chattanooga’s families. From recreation for youths to social environments for our seniors and additional educational opportunities for our students.
The Wild West of Early Learning:
Many families know what their options are when it comes time to send their children to kindergarten, but it can be overwhelming for families to decide what is the best option for a child’s future and the family’s economic well-being when it comes to early learning. Statistics from 2016 showed that upwards of 60 percent of Chattanooga’s children are already behind by the time they enter kindergarten.
While the Mayor did not have control over decisions for the school system, he could help provide support for early childhood education providers and the families trying to utilize them.
In 2017, Mayor Berke formed the Office of Early Learning (OEL) to work as a partner in the community to broaden and deepen early learning opportunities for Chattanooga families.
Over the last five years, OEL has worked to create more opportunities for children between the ages of 0 to 5 through a number of investments and initiatives.
- Baby University: For many first-time pregnant parents, trying to ensure you’re taking care of yourself, your unborn baby, and get everything ready for their arrival can be stressful. In 2015, Mayor Berke formed Baby University, a city-funded partnership among the City of Chattanooga and Signal Centers, which uses an intensive-case management model to provide support and resources to pregnant mothers and through their child’s toddler years. Since its inception, more than 700 people have received assistance through this program.
- Expanded Head Start: Chattanooga Head Start and Early Head Start programs have been promoting school readiness of children from birth to age five since 1965. The program is designed to prepare children, support the development of the whole child, and give parents the resources they need to achieve their goals. In 2015, the City of Chattanooga wrote a competitive federal grant to expand the highly impactful Early Head Start program to 150 infants and toddlers per year. This grant helped local Head Start and Early Head Start centers continue the work of nurturing healthy attachments between parent and child from pregnancy to age three.
- Seats for Success: During his 2018 State of the City address, Mayor Berke announced the bold goal to develop 1,000 high-quality, early-learning seats by the end of his term in 2021. In the first year, OEL worked with local providers to create 365 high-quality seats in less than 365 days. Chattanooga is poised to hit its 1,000-seat goal by April with more than 900 high-quality seats already created.
- Providing Uniform Curriculum: A great educational experience needs a top-notch curriculum. In 2019 Mayor Berke pledged to purchase curriculum identified by early learning providers in Chattanooga when they reach 3 Stars and commit to the Seats for Success program. Mayor Berke kept that promise and provided a $300,000 investment to provide the same curriculum for early learning students across the community.
- WAGE$: In 2017 the City of Chattanooga helped fund WAGE$, a program run by Signal Centers that help child care teachers by providing salary supplements for going to school and continuing their education. This program helps keep early learning teachers in classrooms working with children and families. Due to the program’s success locally, the Tennessee Department of Human Services expanded the program statewide. As of February 2020, WAGE$ has given out nearly half a million dollars in salary supplements to over 400 educators spread across all four corners of Tennessee.
- Chattanooga Early Learning Scholarships: In his desire to ensure Chattanooga’s children are enabled for lifelong success, Mayor Berke wanted to ensure that Chattanooga families could afford to send their children to high-quality early education centers. In 2017, Mayor Berke worked with the United Way of Greater Chattanooga to create Chattanooga Early Learning Scholarships for families who lack the resources to pay for quality early education.
Promises into Action:
These initiatives in action look a lot like the success Cynthia Evans has seen at Champion Christian Learning Academy in Brainerd.
In 2017, Cynthia started CCLA because she saw the need for early learning to help the City’s youngest residents be prepared for a lifetime of success. After Mayor Berke’s “Seats for Success” announcement during his 2018 State of the City address, she saw an opportunity to take the early learning program at CCLA from a school of 68 learners to even higher heights by adding more seats for early learners.
So Cynthia started Champion Christian Learning Academy and worked with OEL to become registered as a high-quality early learning center and to get access to a curriculum that more than 50 facilities across Chattanooga were getting access to, thanks to a $300,000 commitment from the City.
Through the City’s Growing Small Business Fund by the end of year one, she was able to expand her center to provide even more seats for young learners in our community.
Cynthia’s achievements mean nearly 100 early learners at CCLA are receiving a high-quality education, which will ensure they are kindergarten ready and on the path to success.
Commitment Beyond Responsibilities:
Although the City is not required to provide funding or additional resources for Hamilton County Schools, Mayor Berke found new ways to enhance educational opportunities for our county school-aged children.
In 2013 with the newly formed Department of Youth and Family Development (YFD) working to provide a number of services to our young people and their families. Some of those programs included online literacy programs at YFD Centers, where more than 15,000 students were assisted, and academic coaching, which saw more than 45,000 students taking advantage of additional educational and tutoring resources.
Expanding Equity Through Access:
Public libraries are an invaluable resource for communities around the world. The City of Chattanooga has a total of five locations, including the new branch located within the Avondale YFD Center.
In 2013, Mayor Berke expanded access to all Hamilton County School students so they could get a library card for free.
He started by visiting kindergarten classrooms across the community to read to the students and give them their first library card.
While access to free resources like a public library can be beneficial in a child’s education, we know that much of what students are asked to do often require reliable internet access to be readily available.
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated that truth that the internet is no longer a luxury but a necessary utility for everyday life.
In July 2020, Mayor Berke worked with EPB, HCS, Hamilton County Government, and several non-profit partners to create HCS EdConnect. An initiative that would bring high-speed internet to more than 28,000 students — and their families — on free and reduced lunch at no cost to the family.
This transformational initiative was a true communitywide commitment to bridge the digital equity gap for the next 10 years.
As of January 2021, more than 11,000 students had been connected to high-speed broadband through the program, ensuring that educational opportunities can continue in a safe environment amid a global pandemic.
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