JumpStart Tulsa
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Smart Start Oklahoma Community Partnership
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Introducing JumpStart JumpStart is a citizen engagement campaign committed to supporting all of Tulsa County's early childhood education efforts to further school readiness among children, ages zero to five. .jpg) JumpStart is the community outreach provider for the Tulsa County Partnership for School Readiness, chaired by Tulsan Bill Doenges. The partnership's mission is to ensure all children in Tulsa County are healthy and ready to learn upon entering kindergarten. Tulsa's community partnership is one of eighteen in a statewide network known as Smart Start Oklahoma dedicated to the promotion of school readiness for children throughout the state. JumpStart is a primary sponsor of Tulsa's Early Childhood Leadership Forum, bringing top experts on aspects of early childhood to Tulsa so our professional community can be part of state-of-the-art thinking and dialogue with leaders in the field. More JumpStart brochure, "Ready Or Not,
Here They Come" and
PowerPoint (2005) Tulsa's early childhood development system In Tulsa, the Community Service Council and the Metropolitan Human Services Commission have been working for several years in partnership with community organizations and policy makers to create an effective Early Childhood Development System for our community.
The work plan for developing the system is organized by the following goal areas:
View JumpStart's 2007 strategic plan chart and priorities for an overview of how Tulsa's system is organized, and major coordinated actions now underway by JumpStart and our partners. Drawing by Ellie, age 4 - Tulsa, Oklahoma, 2003 Purpose
Objectives
Key Messages
Young children in Tulsa County ... facts Basic data about Tulsa's children ages five years and younger: demographics, family types, income and poverty, maternal and child health, early care and learning. Much more data about children and families in the Tulsa area is available online from the Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa. A Tulsa tradition ... JumpStart's launch builds on community involvement Read the history of Tulsa's involvement in promoting positive early childhood development, plus related developments at the state level - with links to many outstanding local area initiatives. On October 10, 2003, the Tulsa Partnership for Early Childhood Success was officially launched.
A year earlier, the Tulsa Community Conference on Early Childhood Development, October 25, 2002, brought hundreds of leading Tulsans together to learn about early childhood issues and generate momentum for positive action.
"Early childhood development is all about giving parents, educators and other child care givers a basic understanding about the tools, techniques and ideas that can fuel our children to reach their potential as adults. Yet the question remains: Will early childhood development come of age in Oklahoma? That answer is up to us, for what steps we take, what initiatives we undertake, will reflect our commitment to assure that every child is ready for school and well-prepared for a lifetime of success."
Learn more about many Tulsa programs and initiatives and their significance, in this award-winning report which helped lay the groundwork for JumpStart:
JumpStart operates under the umbrella of the Community Service Council of Greater Tulsa. Learn more about related coalitions, initiatives, research, public policy advocacy, and services organized by the Council. "If you had asked me back when my children were young to define 'education in
America,' I would have given you the pretty typical, semi-standard
definition---kindergarten How little I knew. How wrong I was. I did know, of course, how important it is to build great elementary and secondary schools. I did know how important it is to build a world-class higher education system. What I did not know then, but came to know, is that greatness can never fully emerge from classrooms whose students get off to a lousy start in school. What I came to know is that the wisest resources we could spend would be time and money on the front end of lives of children from before birth to age 5. What I came to believe is that Florida’s future---indeed, the future of all states---literally depends on children getting off to a strong start in life."
JumpStart welcomes your involvement! For parents, early childhood professionals, groups, community leaders, volunteers -- there are many ways you can be involved. Some ideas Please
e-mail or call us (585-5551) with any
input, questions or suggestions you have regarding JumpStart or early
childhood education and development in Tulsa and we'll be happy to respond. JumpStart Tulsa |
The
Tulsa Partnership for Early Childhood Success and JumpStart are key components
within the context of this overall community action plan. 
and parents. The research has
indicated the huge potential for early learning during the first years of life
and the lifelong negative consequences of neglect of children during that
critical early period. 
through senior high, then perhaps college. And I would
have told you that 'real education,' whatever that is, begins in kindergarten or
first
grade.