NEXT Memphis director Chloe Moore / photo courtesy NEXT Memphis
What’s the cost to send a child to early education programs? If you guessed more than the price of tuition for the University of Memphis, then you’d be correct. The inaccessibility of these services deprives so many children of a crucial education platform early on in their development, while the prohibitive costs, in turn, may keep parents from pursuing their own economic growth opportunities. Porter-Leath’s NEXT Memphis initiative, however, has already put the wheels in motion to provide more accessible childcare services to the Memphis community.
“Childcare is one of the most essential services to support a community,” says NEXT Memphis director Chloe Moore, “both in terms of supporting children to be ready for school and life, and also allowing families and caregivers to pursue a job, or further their education, or whatever it is that they would like to see furthered in their lives.” To that end, NEXT Memphis last month announced its first cohort of participating childcare centers in a shared services program model.
11 Minority/Women-Owned Businesses have signed on to work with NEXT Memphis:
Fundamentals 1st Learning Academy
Gateway Learning Academy
Hooks-Dimmick Child Care
Hope House Day Care, Inc.
I Rise Christian Academy
KIDazzle Flying Start Child Development Center
Lambs & Ivy School
Lion and Lioness Learning Academy
Perea Preschool
The Goddard School of Cordova
Yale Road Learning
NEXT Memphis saw hundreds of applicants apply to be a part of the initiative, and Moore’s team put each through a thorough vetting process to find the best fit. “We wanted to see what people’s responses were to questions like what does quality look like, what drives them in their work,” she says. “What was their mission, what their approach to education looks like.
“Data has shown that children who have access to early education programming before they reach kindergarten are outperforming their peers who don’t have access. And those data points hold regardless of race, regardless of economic status, and really show that this programming is critical.”
Through the collaboration, partner institutions will receive about $300,000 in support annually, which covers the cost of what parents would originally have to pay. And with NEXT Memphis handling the organizational needs, that leaves childcare developers to key in more on what they do best.
“Since we’ve created a supportive infrastructure for childcare centers, the staff and childcare centers can now focus the majority of their time on children and families,” explains Moore. “The partnership also offers them additional resources and direct services to create viable businesses, high quality education experiences in the classroom, and comprehensive family services.”
The current total enrollment for the initial cohort stands at 800 children; however, it has the potential to enroll up to 1,600.
Visit PorterLeath.org/NEXT-Memphis for more information.