Starting Smart and Strong

Building Robust Early Learning Systems

oakland

Angela Louie Howard

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Angela Louie Howard

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OAKLAND

“About ten years ago, 86 percent of the third graders in District 2 were not reading and testing at grade level. We really wanted to close the education gap for children and families. What we found out is that a lot of children were coming into elementary school with no early learning background.”

Angela Louie Howard runs Lotus Bloom, a network of family resource centers in neighborhoods across Oakland. Their playgroups for children 0-5 provide a welcoming space for families with young children to play and learn while supporting parents and caregivers with workshops and community resources. School Readiness Playgroups provide an entryway into the local elementary school. “We really believe in building on the strengths and knowledge of the parents who are within our program and our community.” 

Jessica Gutierrez

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Jessica Gutierrez

PROGRAM MANAGER, FRESNO

“It started off as a local community pilot. And now it’s grown to the point where I don’t think anyone could have foreseen.”

Jessica Gutierrez runs the Language Learning Project for Fresno Unified. The professional development model focuses on the value of and support for a child’s home language, getting to know the child and family, and concrete strategies early childhood educators can use to support linguistic growth in both home language and English. With investment from California’s Department of Education, the project has gone on to publish a toolkit and expand to neighboring counties. During the pandemic, the project conducted train-the-trainer institutes over Zoom, which were attended by practitioners from 24 additional counties in California who want to do this work in their own communities. 

Rhonda Moore

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Rhonda Moore

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATOR, OAKLAND

“It gave us, as teachers, time to come together, to sit and talk out what we are going through in each classroom.”

When a preschooler was regularly hitting her twin brother at school, instead of punishing her, Rhonda Moore spent extra time with the child, showering her with praise for successes.  She knew that it was important to listen and respond to the child’s needs as well as to regulate her own response. Moore’s training comes from her participation in a professional development program in trauma-responsive strategies for early childhood classrooms. Called ROCK (Resilient Oakland Communities and Kids), the program was developed in Oakland by local educators and mental health experts. It includes workshops, professional learning communities and coaching to give educators space, time and culturally responsive-strategies that respond to historic levels of trauma in communities and families. “The goal is to make space to talk about the children who are in front of us,” says one of the facilitators, Melissa Luc.