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The News of Orange County <br />Kindergarten readiness program finds success <br /> <br />Two students work on an assignment during a kindergarten readiness program held this <br />summer in three schools, including New Hope Elementary School, which was made <br />possible by the Family Success Alliance. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Posted: Friday, October 23, 2015 4:04 pm | Updated: 4:44 pm, Fri Oct 23, 2015. <br />by Amanda VanDerBroek <br />Just a few months after Family Success Alliance launched, the group along with the county’s school <br />districts are making strides. <br />On Monday, Oct. 19, FSA announced it has seen an early victory through a summer kindergarten <br />readiness program. <br />“After working with community members and organizations in our two zones, the Family Success <br />Alliance felt the best place to start work in our pipeline was with a kindergarten readiness program, <br />which is early in the pipeline of success from birth through first job or early college,” said Dr. Michael <br />Steiner, chief of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at UNC Health Care and chair of the Family <br />Success Alliance Advisory Council. “These programs were developed using best practice and enrolled <br />children from low-income families as well as children identified as needing additional support. Those <br />children participated in programs that would help them prepare for kindergarten. Programs were held in <br />three elementary schools that are present in the two zones [chosen by FSA]—New Hope Elementary <br />School, Frank Porter Graham Elementary School and Carrboro Elementary School.” <br />Steiner said a total of 66 families and their children participated in the programs that lasted two to three <br />weeks. The aim was to prepare the children socially, emotionally and academically for when they <br />entered school. <br />“We’re thrilled to report that we saw significant improvements in the assessment scores of children that <br />participated in this first year of the kindergarten readiness program,” Steiner said. “As I said in the <br />beginning, this is the start of multiple interventions that will carry these children on a pipeline to young <br />adult success.”