Community Leaders

5 Ingleside community members attended the first Texas Early Learning Community Convening February 5-7 in San Antonio, TX.  Over 110 early learning, program, and health service professionals throughout Texas gathered to build community coalitions designed to organize and leverage resources and build a cohesive plan of support for children ages birth to five. The coalition work is strongly aligned to the Texas Early Learning Strategic Plan, supporting the statewide vison to ensure all Texas children are ready for school and ready to learn. The community teams gained information on how to build strong partnerships to collaborate and collectively accomplish, that which cannot be achieved in isolation. These partnerships will be critical in adequately supporting the more than two million children ages birth to five who live in Texas.

Team members heard from Texas state agency staff, including the Texas Education Agency, Texas Workforce Commission, Department of Family Protective Services, and Texas Health and Human Services, as well as community advocates and change leaders such as Libby Doggett, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Policy and Early Learning at the U.S. Department of Education, staff from the United Way San Antonio and Bexar County, PreK 4 San Antonio, Easter Seals Rio Grande Valley, Education Service Centers, local Head Starts, and child development centers. Each presentation provided recommendations and guidance on developing strategies for communities to increase access and coordination of programs and services for children and families.

Those attending from your community included Stephanie Dotson and Camille Burger with Ingleside ISD, Shannon Rivas with Headstart, Rhonda Shedd with ECI, and Kay Smith with ESC2. For more information on how to support this coalition, contact Stephanie Dotson at (361)776-3060.