We are proud to have been selected as the lead organization for the Ready Region Blue Ridge.
This new network, launched by The Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (VECF) helps coordinate early education programs with families in every community across Virginia.
As a Ready Region lead organizations we are part of a statewide network focused on:
- Strengthening quality. We will ensure all components are in place to coordinate quality measurement and guide improvement in publicly funded classrooms as a part of VBQ5.
- Building relationships. We will engage with leaders across the region to facilitate buy-in for shared accountability and benefit.
- Increasing access. We will build and strengthen better processes to help parents learn about and access ECCE programs in their community, while helping ECCE providers connect with families.
- Engaging families. We will establish and strengthen strategies and structures to ensure family engagement.
To enroll in VQB5 Practice Year 2, contact: Tucker Morris, tmorris@unitedwaycville.org. Tucker serves as the Coordinator of the Community Impact Team at the United Way of Greater Charlottesville and Ready Region Blue Ridge. The Virginia Department of Education administers VQB5 as established by the Virginia Board of Education. To learn more, visit the VDOE website.
Strengthening Quality
Virginia’s early childhood system must ensure that all children have quality teaching and learning experiences that meet their unique needs. To do this, Virginia has developed the Unified Virginia Quality Birth to Five System (VQB5) which recognizes the impact of every classroom, provides feedback to every educator, and supports all publicly funded birth-to-five programs to improve. VQB5 is a measurement and improvement system that focuses on the quality of all publicly-funded birth-five classrooms and supports families to choose quality programming across different program types.
Ready Regions coordinate participation in VQB5 for early childhood care and education (ECCE) programs in the region.
Building Relationships
Ready Region Blue Ridge is committed to partnering with other organizations and stakeholders to implement this work.
To learn more contact Tucker Morris, tmorris@unitedwaycville.org. Tucker serves as the Coordinator of the Community Impact Team at the United Way of Greater Charlottesville and Ready Region Blue Ridge and will connect you with our Coordinated Enrollment Team.
Increasing Access
- Help parents easily learn where there are available spots for their children, what they qualify for, and information such as cost, hours, and location.
- Help ECCE providers keep enrollment numbers high, communicate when they have spots available, and be able to cover the true costs of quality services.
Engaging Families
Families must be engaged in designing an early childhood system that works for them. To do this, Ready Regions will connect with families and communities to better understand and provide the ECCE programs that meet families’ needs.
To learn more: Tucker Morris, tmorris@unitedwaycville.org. Tucker serves as the Coordinator of the Community Impact Team at the United Way of Greater Charlottesville and Ready Region Blue Ridge. He will connect you with our Family Engagement Team.
Ready Region Blue Ridge encompasses 21 cities and counties, including Winchester, Frederick, Clarke, Warren, Page, Rappahanock, Madison, Greene, Orange, Louisa, Fluvanna, Buckingham, Charlottesville, Albemarle, Nelson, Waynesboro, Staunton, Augusta, Harrisonburg, Rockingham, Shenandoah.
The United Way will continue to work with local early education partners and funders to build strong public-private partnerships to ensure robust support of the child care and early education system.
This new model benefits partners, funders, and communities, through centralizing systems, more robust data tracking, and greater family and community engagement. With better systems and more resources we will be able to provide access to more and more early learners, thus affording them a strong foundation on which to start kindergarten and continue their education.