Our blog

One of our teachers @ The New E3 School shares the challenges of COVID in the early learning classroom.

Listen to a parent talk about how the Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program (VKRP) is a tool for her at home in helping her child be ready for K!

Almost six years ago, we opened the doors of The New E3 School, a state-of-the-art mixed-income model for children ages one to five in the neighborhood of Park Place in Norfolk. We set out to accomplish several goals: Develop a model school for the state that was a hybrid of national best practices. Create a […]

Dear Advocates: The House & Senate have passed their budgets. Here is the breakdown: House $60m in federal COVID relief funds allocated to increase access and help child care programs recover from the health crisis. $3m to recruit & retain early educators to remain in the classroom & improve quality for children. $85m in unallotted […]

Dear Early Education Advocates: The Special Session to address the budget deficit caused by the COVID-19 health crisis is underway.  Unfortunately, only $3.7m in new funding is for early educators. Research consistently shows that investing in early learning benefits ALL children, families and society.  Yet, it is always the first to be cut. Early learning […]

We commemorate this day in OUR shared history that ended slavery. We wanted to share a few children’s books that you can read aloud with your children to help them understand the day that ended slavery in the United States. There are many activities and events to celebrate emancipation happening in our state and country. We […]

These pictures will make your day! We altered our preschool graduation ceremony this year, but felt it was important that we honored and celebrated our children who will be heading off to kindergarten in the fall. It was a day filled with joy and tears.

In 1947, Jackie Robinson put on the Brooklyn Dodgers uniform to play Major League Baseball(MLB). He was the first African-American to play in the MLB. He faced the hate from the public and his own teammates. His uniform number was 42. Both of my boys love to play and watch sports and baseball. When the […]

Dear Advocates: We need your voice to be heard today. Governor Northam and his administration are making final decisions soon on how to allocate Virginia’s $67m in federal discretionary education funding.  Early education cannot be left out and must receive its fair share.  Anything less than a significant portion of this funding is simply unacceptable. […]

[su_row][su_column size=”1/3″ center=”no” class=””][/su_column] [su_column size=”1/3″ center=”no” class=””][/su_column] [su_column size=”1/3″ center=”no” class=””][/su_column][/su_row] Last year saw increases in states’ spending on early education, increased enrollment and levels of quality, according to NIEER’s annual State of Preschool Yearbook  which ranked states in three categories – access to state preschool, average spending per child and whether programs meet a […]

For more than a decade, researchers at the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education and Human Development have been developing, testing and disseminating a set of practices called “Banking Time” that builds positive relationships between teachers and their students. Amanda Williford, an associate professor and a member of that team, believes these practices can […]

Dear Advocates: Virginia will receive approximately $67m in education relief as part of the CARES Act, the economic stimulus package passed by Congress and signed by the president.  The discretionary funding which comes from the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund is available to use immediately.  Governors decide how funds will be used and can […]

We are challenging our classrooms & families @ home to build their best Lego creation. It can be anything you want to build!!! Send us photos or videos of your best Lego creation on Friday, April 24th by 12 noon. The creation with the most “Likes” is the winner. Prizes will be awarded for the […]

You can… Build a tower as tall as YOU are, create a house for a mouse, or use Legos, blocks, boxes and other things around your house to create a building or bridge. Go outside and take a nature scavenger hunt walk.   Make a list and find as many things as you can.  Here […]

The conversations, social media and constant chatter by the news media may worry our children. It is important that we are careful about what we say around them. They will start to worry about the health and safety of their mother, father, grandparents, teachers, friends and other special people in their lives. What can we […]