Network Updates | Quarter 2 | 2024
Expressing Gratitude
Cradle 2 Career would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has dedicated their time, energy, resources, and expertise to supporting our work over the past school year. Your generosity is deeply appreciated, and our collective impact work could not be possible without you. A special thank you to our conveners who helped guide our strategic planning and supported the facilitation of our network meetings to achieve our named results. Thank you to all of you who are deeply committed to working towards better student outcomes.
Prenatal to Age 3 Network
When Cradle 2 Career (C2C) and Olmsted County Public Health Services embarked on our journey to understand the barriers to accessing adequate prenatal care, we were humbled by the collective wisdom and experiences shared by our co-designers and their communities. Through this collective effort, we have identified barriers and crafted solutions.
Throughout the past month, we have developed a report that not only presents our findings in an accessible, equitable, and representative way but also brings the authenticity of participant voices to the forefront. By directly linking barriers to co-designer quotes, we have ensured that the report remains true to the diverse voices that shaped this co-design project.
As we finalize the report, we are grateful for the invaluable contributions of all stakeholders. Their insights and support have been instrumental in this project's success. We have published the report on our website and look forward to collaborating with community partners in Olmsted County to implement the recommendations in the fall.
Transition to Kindergarten
Over the past school year, our Transition to Kindergarten Network has collaborated on several pilots, including:
• Whole Family Systems (WFS) Early Childhood Education Resource Hub
• Successful Learner Equation (SLE)
• Childcare Recommendations
• Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) Co-Design
Whole Family Systems (WFS) Early Childhood Education Resource Hub
The Intercultural Mutual Assistance Association (IMAA) and C2C have worked diligently to finalize the resource hub. For the past few months, the WFS Early Childhood Education Resource Hub workgroup has connected with groups of parents and families within Rochester to collect feedback, which will inform improvements to the hub before piloting it out to the community in early fall 2024.
Successful Learner Equation (SLE)
We are in the early stages of planning our upcoming Successful Learner Equation Co-Design. The network's SLE Co-Design aims to explore the role systems—families, schools, programs, and communities—play in the development of a young We seek to engage parents, caregivers, early childhood providers, and stakeholders to understand beliefs surrounding kindergarten entry.
Childcare Recommendations
Since publishing our 2023 Childcare Insights report, C2C has engaged stakeholders in addressing the nine recommendations. For example, C2C is currently partnering with Destination Medical Center (DMC) and Mayo Clinic to provide guidance for the 2nd street development. In addition, our childcare workgroup continues to meet regularly and plans to apply for upcoming grants to address the community’s recommendations. We are confident that through these initiatives and grants, we can make significant strides in improving the childcare landscape in our community.
Social-Emotional Learning Co-Design
After completing our co-design, we developed a report detailing our findings and solutions. The T2K Network discussed the report and has started prioritizing next steps. We are excited to publish the report on our website in the fall of 2024 and invite all stakeholders to take shared responsibility for the recommendations collectively.
High School Graduation Network
The High School Graduation (HSG) Network closed the school year by revisiting two ongoing pilots: Student Data Summit and FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) Completion. The network discussed how they could collectively work together to support each pilot.
In addition, the network also explored one potential pilot: Student Work – Xello. Xello is an online K-12 platform that fully engages every student in building the skills, knowledge, and plans for future success – regardless of background, ability, or pathway. By maximizing how Xello is utilized, we hope to create a Student Work Pilot where every student will have a connection to a high school work experience opportunity, leading to clearer post-secondary pathways.
After summer break, we will pick up where we left off and begin forming workgroups to execute HSG's three pilots for the upcoming school year. We are also eagerly looking forward to engaging stakeholders who are not currently involved in our work but are instrumental to the success of these pilots. Your involvement is crucial, and we value your contribution.