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The Family Success Alliance used $90,000 from the county’s social justice fund to roll ou t kindergarten readiness in three schools: New Hope Elementary in Zone 4 (Hillsborough east of Interstate 40) and Carrboro Elementary and Frank Porter Graham Elementary in Zone 6 (Chapel Hill and Carrboro). About 70 students are being served through the first rollout of the program, said Stacy Shelp, communications manager for the Orange County Health Department and the Family Success Alliance. Although kindergarten readiness is where the organization is starting, the Family Success Alliance plans to focus on many different areas that affect children’s success, such as transportation and literacy. Every school has had the freedom to develop its kindergarten readiness program to meet the needs of its students, Shelp said. Ambra Wilson, New Hope’s assistant principal, said this freedom has been helpful because it will be easier to measure students’ growth and success throughout the year. At New Hope Elementary’s kindergarten readiness program, the vast majority of the students speak Spanish. This is representative of the school’s greater population — nearly half of New Hope’s students are Latino. At least one bilingual teacher is on hand at all times, giving instruction in both Spanish and English to help students build their academic vocabulary. Dawn Bagwell, ESL differentiation coach for Orange County Schools, also completed initial assessments so that ESL support would be in place for students from the first day of the school year. Shelby Nelson, a kindergarten teacher at New Hope that is also helping with the kindergarten readiness program, said that she saw tremendous growth in the students just within the first week. The students were getting used to a structured day and were also learning a new number each day, she said. “These kids will really be able to serve as role models once they get to school,” Nelson said. “It also helps them socially.” In addition to the kindergarten readiness program, part of the Family Success Alliance’s funding went toward hiring three zone navigators who will help guide families through the network of services offered in their communities. Angela Clapp and Ali Rojas will serve as the zone navigators for Zone 4. Beatrice Parker will work in Zone 6, and the Family Success Alliance is in the process of hiring another navigator for Z one 6. Rojas is currently out of the country, but both Clapp and Parker have already started their work as zone navigators. For both women, the work isn’t much different from what they were already doing within their communities. Both Parker and Clapp are active within their children’s respective schools. Both heard about the Family Success Alliance and the zone navigator position through their schools’ social workers. Parker said she sees the zone navigator position as peer guidance. She hopes to be a resource for parents who are overworked and don’t have time or energy to seek out resources on their own.