Deep Listening about White Wing on May 17
Our church’s early childhood education program
White Wing School
Today’s blog post is from the UUCN Board of Trustees regarding our past, current, and future relationship with White Wing School. Our future relationship is evolving, and we would like to hear from the congregation about the possibility of expanding our church’s early childhood education program to be more inclusive of disadvantaged families in our local neighborhood. We are hosting a UU Church of Nashua (UUCN) Board of Trustees deep listening session on May 17th, and want to hear your views.
White Wing School was founded in 1959 as a non-profit, non-sectarian, pre-school and kindergarten to provide quality early childhood education for children in the community long before public kindergarten programs in New Hampshire. White Wing operates as a 'associated organization' of UUCN, as does the Nashua Cemetery Association. ‘Associated organizations’ are legally subsidiaries of UUCN, but with independent funding and operations. White Wing School uses our religious education building on weekdays. Their budget is primarily funded by student tuition and fees. They pay usage fees to UUCN to help offset costs associated with their use of the church facilities. White Wing has funded many improvements to our church facilities, which are used by all our children, such as the new playground and improved safety fences.
White Wing is highly regarded in the southern New Hampshire area, and in past years has had long wait lists. The school provided quality early childhood education to approximately 100 students. As a non-profit, they offered affordable tuition and included a mix of students. Some students from the local neighborhood came from disadvantaged families funded by scholarships provided by UUCN, along with some NH education state assistance funds.
Over the last few years, because of competition from public kindergartens and full day private pre-schools, White Wing's enrollment has declined.
For the current 2014-2015 school year, about 55 students enrolled. With declining enrollment, White Wing faced budget pressures. They asked the UUCN board for expertise, guidance, and assistance. We formed a joint UUCN - White Wing task force to study the situation and provide operational and strategic recommendations.
White Wing recently informed the board that there might be a budget shortfall for the next school year (2015-2016), while they take the time to implement our suggestions and grow their programs. The Board of Trustees believes that their budget pressures can be solved and that enrollment will be increasing. We are already seeing promising enrollment levels for next school year. With improved marketing, a stronger online presence, as well as operational and financial guidance, these budget problems can be solved.
The UUCN Board authorized $5000 in funds from a White Wing-specific investment account to make immediate marketing improvements and to renew their very valuable NAEYC accreditation. However, for 2015-2016, UUCN might be facing a reduced amount in annual usage fees from White Wing. We believe that the worst case scenario would be an impact of up to $23,000 to the UUCN 2015-2016 operating budget. We do believe, however, that with the steps UUCN and White Wing are jointly taking, their budget deficit will be reduced and there will be less of an impact on the UUCN 2015-2016 operating budget.
To learn more about White Wing School, visit the White Wing Website
or the White Wing Facebook Page
Future Possibilities
As for the future, what is the longer-term relationship between early childhood education and UUCN's mission? Our church educational facilities have been somewhat underutilized. What else could be done with these spaces? Our neighbors tell us there are no nearby childcare facilities and often ask White Wing if they offer daycare. We are interested in hearing your feedback and ideas for the possibility of expanded community outreach in this area. Such a focus could potentially mean expanding White Wing’s mission, creating a community daycare center, helping raise community funds for assisting underserved families, recruiting volunteers to assist in delivering such programs, providing after school enrichment programs, or other such activities. We’d like to hear your thoughts and ideas.
Today, it is well understood that a quality early childhood education program makes a significant difference in children’s lives. Most states in the US participate in a federal program to provide underserved and disadvantaged families with access to pre-school and other early childhood services. A few states, including New Hampshire, don’t participate in this program. In fact, New Hampshire is ranked last in the nation in providing such pre-school services to disadvantaged children.
We are eager to hear your thoughts on the current and future mission of White Wing School, as well as how our church's social justice and outreach efforts may help address problems of inequality in our community. Please join us after church on May 17th.
Background Resources
If you are interested in learning more about education inequality, please review the following resources:
1) A Matter of Equity: Preschool in America
Summary: ”All parents hope their child will start school ready for success. Unfortunately, not every parent can find the high-quality early learning opportunity that sets their child up for success. The U.S. Department of Education released a report outlining the unmet need for high-quality early learning programs in America. Roughly 6 in 10 four-year-olds are not enrolled in publicly funded preschool programs, and even fewer are enrolled in the highest quality programs. While both states and the federal government invest in early learning, these efforts have fallen short of what is needed to ensure that all children can access a high-quality early education that will prepare them for success.
Advances in neuroscience and research have helped to demonstrate the benefits of quality early education for young children1 and that the early years are a critical period in children’s learning and development, providing the necessary foundation for more advanced skills.
A robust body of research shows that children who participate in high-quality preschool programs have better health, social-emotional, and cognitive outcomes than those who do not participate. The gains are particularly powerful for children from low-income families and those at risk for academic failure who, on average, start kindergarten 12 to 14 months behind their peers in pre-literacy and language skills.”
http://www.ed.gov/blog/2015/04/a-matter-of-equity-preschool-in-america
http://www2.ed.gov/documents/early-learning/matter-equity-preschool-america.pdf
2) Educational Leadership: The First Years of School: Preschool: The Most Important Grade
Summary: The early education system in the United States has recently experienced tremendous growth, a trend that has enabled most children to gain access to some sort of early education program. Unfortunately, U.S. preschool education programs are generally mediocre and inconsistent, and the best programs are too expensive for most U.S. families to afford. A recent USA Today article declared that we can, and should, be creating a preschool system that would be good enough for everyone. Public preschools should be built the same way we constructed our highway system: the same road available to all Americans, rich and poor.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/body/science-of-preschool
3) The Bottom Ten: A Closer Look at No-Program States
Summary: Ten states still have not made preschool a priority and lack such programs for young learners. These “Bottom Ten” states do provide some services to their youngest learners through federal special education and Head Start programs, though enrollment is limited only to those most “at-risk,” whether due to disability or meeting a low-income threshold. “Preschool-age children in these 10 states are denied the opportunity of early learning experiences that will help them succeed both in school and later in life.”
New Hampshire provides slightly more than $300,000 in state supplemental funds to the federal Head Start program. Rather than using these funds to enroll additional children as most states do, New Hampshire dedicates this funding to enhancing teacher salaries. Less than 9 percent of 3-year-olds are enrolled in a state or federal program in New Hampshire, below the national figure of 14 percent. With only about 11 percent of the state’s 4-year-olds enrolled in special education preschool and Head Start, New Hampshire ties with Nevada for the bottom spot for 4-year-old enrollment in state and/or federal pre-K programs.
http://preschoolmatters.org/2011/06/06/the-bottom-ten-a-closer-look-at-no-program-states/
4) Local Map of Licensed Nashua Preschool / K & Child Care Facilities
Shows lack of local childcare availability in nearby neighborhood. This area includes French Hill where many disadvantaged families live.Points with white dot, are nearby educational facilities not offering child care.
-- Connecting with our Stakeholders