Santa Paula site selected for program focused on early childhood education
A program focusing on early childhood education selected a site to build an early care hub on property adjacent to Briggs Elementary School in Santa Paula.
A partnership between the Isabella Project and the Briggs School District, the hub will open about 200 spots for children up to 5 years old and offer wraparound services for youths, families and childcare professionals, said Jack Hinojosa, co-chair of the Isabella Project, which is affiliated with Ventura County Community Foundation.
The site was selected in the middle of May, according to a news release.
“The first five years of life shape the child’s future for more than any other period in their lifetime,” he said. “Expanding the opportunity for children to have access to high-quality, full-time early care and education that meets their family’s needs is critically important.”
When will the project be completed?
The hub could take a year to 24 months after plans are complete, he said. There are more than 2,000 children under age 5 in Santa Paula, but the city only has 881 formal early learning spaces, Hinojosa said.
There is an urgent need for an early childhood development center with a preschool and daycare, said Superintendent Carlos Dominguez.
“We don’t have an early childhood center for our district,” he said. “Our families, seeking these resources, have to go outside the district.”
The exact location of the site is the corner of Telegraph Road and Briggs Road, Dominguez said. The school district will provide the land but let the Isabella Project run the hub, he said.
The project is focused on making high-quality, early childhood education available to all young children in Santa Paula, according to its website. It has been around for more than three years and has 125 partners with input from hundreds of community members, Hinojosa said.
“We have developed an early childhood education roadmap,” said Hinojosa, who is also the CEO for Child Development Resources, a nonprofit serving Ventura County with free and subsidized children’s programs.
The land lease process still needs to be finalized, Dominguez said.
See site of Isabella Project’s early care hub in Santa Paula
How much will it cost?
An exact dollar amount for construction of the hub hasn’t been determined, but donors are being sought, Hinjosa said.
詳細および寄付については、以下を参照のこと。 vccf.org/イザベラ・プロジェクト.
Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at [email protected], 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes.