Our Mission is to maximize children’s potential through increased school readiness.
We have a Vision that every student starts kindergarten ready to learn.
Our programs and services are designed to provide a comprehensive level of support for high-need prekindergarten children, including one-to-one mentorship, family engagement, and educator support/collaboration.
ReadingPals
Every year, more than 200 prekindergarten children in Escambia County receive one-to-one mentoring through the ReadingPals program. Caring adults are paired with children from high-need Pre-K classrooms to help build early-literacy and social-emotional skills that are critical for kindergarten readiness.
Family Engagement
We help equip families to be their child’s first, best, and most important teacher by providing training, resources, and book donations with discussion prompts. By encouraging play, conversation, and exploration, caregivers can create quality learning environments at home using what they already have on hand.
Educator Support
Our work would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of our teachers. We support our Pre-K educators by collecting resources and supplies for partner classrooms, inviting volunteers to assist with classroom activities and events, and providing additional support as needed throughout the year.
ReadyKids! History
Founded in 2007, the mission of ReadyKids! (formerly Every Child A Reader in Escambia) is to maximize children’s potential through increased school readiness.
In October 2006, a planning group of community leaders including the Rotary Club of Pensacola, Early Learning Coalition, Escambia County School District, United Way of West Florida, Gulf Coast African American Chamber of Commerce, Drs. Bill and Nancy Maloy and Dr. John DeWitt published a Business Case supporting the creation of Every Child A Reader in Escambia (ECARE). ECARE was proposed to be community-wide, business-led coalition of representative from all segments of the community. They proposed the following Vision and Goals for ECARE:
Vision: To create a literate workforce that contributes to the economic growth and development in Escambia County.
Goals: All children entering Kindergarten in the Escambia County School District in 2011 will be ready for Kindergarten as measured by then current state standards.
All 3rd graders in the Escambia County School District will test as proficient on the reading portion of the FCAT by 2014 as measured by state standards.
In the initial years of its formal organization, ECARE promoted widespread early literacy projects across Escambia County. In 2011, ECARE launched Project Ready, a strategic, results-oriented effort to improve kindergarten readiness that could be expanded with the addition of resources rather than individual initiatives. The expectation was that this high level, scalable approach will lead to the development of a Ready Model that could be successfully replicated in any elementary school zone in Escambia County and the state of Florida. As part of Project Ready, ECARE began a ReadingPals program that impacted 38 students at Global Learning Academy during the 2011-12 school year and has since expanded to serve more than 200 students at six schools.
In 2020, the ECARE team and Board came together to discuss opportunities for community growth, stronger impact among our children and families, and increased awareness. After a year of planning, deep conversations, ideas, and community and stakeholder input, ECARE officially rebranded to ReadyKids! on July 1, 2021 with the leadership of local branding agency, HatchMark Studio.
Today, ReadyKids! is an established leader in the early literacy space for prekindergarten students in Escambia County and an extension of support for their families. ReadyKids! continues its original mission to seek opportunities to collaborate, leverage and maximize existing resources and avoid duplication by working closely with community partners. Through Project Ready’s three-prong approach, ReadyKids! continues to focus on mentoring students, engaging families in the education process of their prekindergartners, and supporting educators – all to maximize children’s potential through increased school readiness. With a school readiness rate of 45% in 2022, our mission remains critical.