Our Impact
Together, WE have increased access to quality early education for thousands of children + families.
Now, E3 is tackling the reading crisis to ensure every child reads by third grade.
Our History
In 2005, we started tackling early education as one of the first early education initiatives in Virginia. We worked to raise awareness, advocate for greater public-private investment and improve quality for children and families. We moved the meter from 1 in 5 children not ready for kindergarten to 1 in 10 in the region of South Hampton Roads.
In 2011, we set out to make early education a priority and increase state investment along with our strategic partners. E3’s awareness, advocacy and innovative initiatives led to $198M in public investment, $40M in private investment and transformational policy change. During the Northam administration, we advocated and secured an estimated $85M-$120M in dedicated funding for 20,000+ underserved children to have access to quality programs. Thousands of children now have equitable access to quality early learning programs.
Our Three-Pronged Approach:
- E3 initiated, funded and partnered with UVA and VDOE to create the Virginia Kindergarten Readiness Program (VKRP) to give teachers, families, schools + policymakers a tool to understand the readiness gap and provide a comprehensive understanding of how kindergarten children enter school in the domains of literacy, math, social skills + self-regulation.
- Advocated for a JLARC study in 2019 that led to strategic investments and a data-driven approach.
- Built The E3 School from scratch as a high quality implementation model for all children ages one to five to drive innovation, impact, policy change and investment.
- E3 created and funded the STREAMin3 curriculum, professional development, coaching and assessment model alongside UVA at the E3 School to be replicated and scaled. Advocated and advanced the expansion in partnership with VDOE to over 5,400 state-funded classrooms.
In 2023, E3 conducted listening sessions across the state. Stakeholders asked E3 to take on the reading crisis as our next big problem to solve. The Board of Directors unanimously agreed.
WHAT WE DO:
E3 raises awareness, advocates and creates innovative initiatives to give more children equitable access to a quality education for the first eight years.
Identify problems and solve with innovative solutions.
Raise awareness, educate and move people to action.
Arm parents and families with tools to help their children thrive.
Partner with philanthropy.
Measure impact.
OUR WORK:
Raise Awareness
- Launched the Kids Need to Read statewide mini-campaign, generating 1.4 million impressions and reaching 500,000 people to mobilize the public around the reading crisis. Reached families with early literacy activities.
- Built a coalition of 10,000+ Literacy Champions to advocate to make literacy a top priority.
- Partnered with 17 corporate sponsors and foundations to host 6 Reading Rallies with school divisions and the Share the Magic Foundation.
- Provided 2,000+ books at Reading Rallies across Virginia to spark a love of books.
Advocate + Educate
- Advocated for the Virginia Literacy Act (VLA) that passed with bipartisan support.
- Secured over $21M for implementation of the Virginia Literacy Act.
- Advocated for HB 1075 which passed with bipartisan support. The bill set up the structure for a statewide Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program and the shared public-private funding model. E3 serves as the state partner.
- Increased funding for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library (DPIL) from $481,180 (FY23) to $2.9M over the biennium.
Advance Literacy
- Partnered with three school divisions and Virginia Literacy Partnerships @ UVA to launch Literacy Innovation + Impact Pilots in preschool through third grade to create high quality literacy implementation models aligned with the Virginia Literacy Act.
- Invested over $1.3 million in private funds to support innovative, evidence-based literacy initiatives in partnership with foundations.
- Launched the Gil Minor Innovation + Impact Fund, backed by a $350,000 challenge gift from the Minor Family to advance literacy in Richmond Public Schools and provide scholarships at The E3 School.
Increase Equitable Access to Books + Quality Education
- Promoted and expanded Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library of Virginia (DPIL) in partnership with The Dollywood Foundation and 88 Local Program Partners.
- Delivered 909,000 books in one year through Local Program Partners to children communities across Virginia.
- Reached 79,000+ children with age-appropriate, high-quality books and activities to engage families in each book.
- Partnered with Amazon and local communities to launch new DPIL programs across Virginia and eliminate book deserts.
- Provided 121 scholarships to underserved and working families at The E3 School.
- Expanded the STREAMin3 model developed by the University of Virginia at The E3 School to 5,400 publicly-funded preschool classrooms across Virginia.
- Celebrated 10 Years of Innovation + Impact at the E3 School with over 100 attendees, including alumni, investors, and 13 corporate and foundation partners.
- Recognized by the Commonwealth of Virginia and the General Assembly with a House Resolution, presented by Delegate Bonita Anthony on behalf of Speaker Don Scott, recognizing The E3 School as a statewide model.
- Launched Book Access Fund
Our goal is to increase public-private investment in literacy initiatives and the implementation of the Virginia Literacy Act to help more children read. We collaborate with policymakers, Virginia Department of Education, Virginia Literacy Partnerships, school divisions, philanthropy, The Dollywood Foundation, DPIL Local Program Partners and many others.
43% of Virginia’s third graders cannot read - it is even worse in some communities. Our children need to read to succeed.
43% of Virginia’s third graders cannot read - it is even worse in some communities. Our children need to read to succeed.