Initiatives

Good Beginnings is dedicated to encourage public policies that promote our mission - all children, prenatal to age 5 will be safe, healthy and ready to succeed. Towards this end, we provide public officials with data and other information, as well as convene appropriate stakeholders around the relevant issues. In addition to our continual contact with a wide variety of organizations, we advance our policy agenda through several vehicles. School Readiness and P20 are two major initiatives that are advancing our mission.

SPARK

Information Coming Soon

Hawai`i P-20: Partnerships for Education

Good Beginnings is in partnership with the State Department of Education and University of Hawai`i to fundamentally reshape the way in which education is delivered and received in the state of Hawai`i.

Together, we seek to promote a seamless education system to ensure lifelong learning for all students - whether they be a youngster in an early childhood program or a graduate student preparing to become a new teacher in Hawai`i’s schools. The focus is on improving the knowledge, skills and achievement of Hawai`i’s students. A key component of this partnership will be to seek voluntary statewide access to early learning opportunities.

P-3 Initiative Grant RFP

In 2007, a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Capturing the Momentum, supported Hawai`i’s efforts to ensure that every child is ready to succeed throughout the educational pipeline with a focus on “P-3.” The goal is for every child in Hawaii to read by the end of grade three. Capturing the Momentum, a component of the Hawai`i P-20 Initiative, is a collaboration led by the Department of Education, University of Hawai`i, and the Good Beginnings Alliance to ensure that learners successfully transition and succeed from preschool to K-12 to university and beyond.

School Readiness

Every child enters school ready to learn. Families, schools, communities, and policy-makers must create a system that supports all young children's learning with respect for individual differences in physical, mental, and social-emotional development. The School Readiness Initiative focuses on the shared responsibility between the public and private sectors in providing quality early learning opportunities for all of Hawaii's young children.

School Readiness Task Force

The School Readiness Task Force is chaired by Patricia Hamamoto, DOE Superintendent of Schools and Dee Jay Mailer, CEO of Kamehameha Schools. The Task Force is a diverse group of influential stakeholders who together identify outcomes and recommendations to ensure that all of Hawai`i’s keiki enter school ready to succeed. Details of the plan can be seen in their Report to the 2003 State Legislature