Dear Early Childhood Colleague,
It has been my pleasure and good fortune to have worked with you over the past 15 years on behalf of Maryland's youngest children, their families and the early childhood workforce. We have accomplished a great deal fueled by our collective passion for better outcomes for our youngest learners and our commitment to building a strong, integrated early childhood system in Maryland.
With the initiation of Ready At Five's new 3-year Strategic Plan, the completion of our leadership role in Maryland's Race To The Top Early Childhood Challenge Grant, and our affiliation and alignment with the Maryland Business Roundtable for Education, I feel the timing is right to retire.
I have a great sense of pride in the outstanding progress we've made in early childhood as a state, in our jurisdictions and in our communities, programs and organizations. We have much to be proud of. I am particularly pleased with Ready At Five’s role in transforming the annual kindergarten assessment data into information that is useful and capable of strategically driving decisions, policy and funding decisions. The VIOLETS language improvement program has been implemented throughout Maryland, is supporting young English Learner (EL) children and their families, and is narrowing the achievement gap for children exposed to the program. The thirty School Readiness Symposia we have offered to so many practitioners across Maryland have been a high-quality, research-based platform leading to improvements in the knowledge of staff and early childhood environments. And, it is the creation of the warm relationships and partnerships with each of you that have been a highlight of my work on behalf of school readiness.
Ready At Five is a strong and stable organization, with a small but committed staff and a long history of developing and implementing research-based curricula, and high-quality products; offering cutting-edge professional development, and engaging families and communities in understanding the importance of early learning. I know all of this has had a role in making Maryland's early childhood system stronger.
As the search begins to find a top-notch Executive Director for Ready At Five, I expect to remain until my successor is hired and there has been a smooth transition.
Thank you for your leadership, friendship and collaborative spirit. I will be leaving Ready At Five knowing that we have made a difference for our young children and families because the Early Years Matter and School Readiness Matters!
Thank YOU.
Warm Regards,
Louise
Please click here for the job description for Ready At Five's Executive Director.