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Silicon Valley Community Foundation is pleased to announce its newest early childhood development initiative, Stretch to Kindergarten. The program is funded by the Heising-Simons Foundation and modeled after the community foundation’s highly successful Kickoff to Kindergarten program, which has helped more than 6,000 children in San Mateo County successfully enter kindergarten . Stretch to Kindergarten is a pilot program in Mountain View, which the community foundation hopes to expand to other communities in Santa Clara County.

"Stretch to Kindergarten serves moderate to low-income children who have never had access to quality pre-school. Many of the children are also English language learners who have never experienced a structured classroom setting before," says Cynthia Cuellar, the initiative officer hired by the community foundation to lead the program. "With support from the Heising-Simons Foundation, we are building on the Kickoff to Kindergarten model and adding three new exciting elements."

In addition to a morning, standards-based curricula, Stretch to Kindergarten involves:

1. intentional parent engagement in childrens’ learning and in building school readiness;
2. an afternoon enrichment activity such as art, free play, field trips and recreation; and,
3. strong volunteer support from youth in the community.

Beginning June 22, 40 preschool-age children will participatein the full-day, seven week program at Theuerkauf Elementary School before entering the Mountain View Whisman School District in the fall. All activities will prepare the children for kindergarten in the areas of cognition and general knowledge, language development, and social and emotional skills. The program will also engage youth volunteers who will serve as role models and mentors offering additional opportunities for the children to develop nurturing relationships with others.

Research shows that children from low-income families who participate in high-quality, early education programs retain positive gains in their cognitive and social skills. Children then enter kindergarten with the appropriate skills which leads to future success in later school years. Yet access to high quality early education programs remains elusive due to cost and lack of availability of subsidized slots. Programs like Stretch to Kindergarten are intended to fill this gap. "We hope that Stretch to Kindergarten gives these young children the boost they need as they enter kindergarten and throughout their first school years," said Mauricio Palma, Director of Early Learning and Education Initiatives.

If you are interested in learning more about Stretch to Kindergarten, please contact Cynthia Cuéllar at 650.450.5496 or ccuellar@siliconvalleycf.org.