Explanation
Mayor Ginther’s vision for Columbus, America’s Opportunity City, is that every 4-year-old has access to a high-quality prekindergarten education. Addressing early childhood learning means bringing awareness and resources to a critical learning stage in childhood development. Children who come to school ready to learn are more likely to succeed academically and in life.
Children who participate in high-quality early childhood education experiences significantly improve their early literacy, language, and math skills. Ample evidence shows that children who enter school unprepared fall further and further behind. Students who get a poor start in their earliest years are likely to struggle in high school and, subsequently, fail to graduate.
Unfortunately, there are too few high-quality preschool providers in Columbus, especially in the Hilltop. Because of this, the Mayor convened the Hilltop Early Childhood Partnership in 2017. One of the recommendations of the Partnership was the development of a new early learning facility in the Hilltop to increase capacity.
On March 11, City Council approved the purchase of 0.7 acres from Columbus City Schools on which to build a new early learning and community center. Design is scheduled to begin imminently.
In addition to early learning, the new center will provide the critical “wraparound services” that children need to learn and develop. As well as two-generational programs for their families and members of the Hilltop community. Determining what programs and services to provide that are not otherwise available or convenient will be important in the development of the facility.
Therefore the Department of Education requests the authority to contract with Mollard Consulting. Mollard will provide to the department the data and research needed to make informed decisions as to which programs our children and families need to succeed, and which programs and services should be included in the develo...
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