The first five years of a child’s life are a time of enormous social, emotional, physical, and intellectual growth. For children to grow into successful adults, they need a supportive and healthy early foundation. We know that nearly 1/2 of the children in our community are not prepared to enter kindergarten ready to learn, and we know that children who start out behind, tend to stay behind. We are the community-wide convener in transforming Early Care and Education, leading the Ready for K Alliance, a coalition of over 100 partners working to align strategies and improve early educational attainment.

Dedicated to Improving Outcomes for Children

The Ready for K Alliance is focused on ensuring all children enter kindergarten ready to thrive. Kindergarten readiness is an important indicator of whether children will succeed in the classroom for years to come. Based on local data, Jefferson County Public School (JCPS) students who entered school ready for kindergarten in 2016 were over three times as likely to achieve test results at or above their grade level on their standardized math and reading tests in the 3rd grade.

In 2023 only 43.6% of JCPS incoming kindergarteners entered school ready for kindergarten. The Ready for K Alliance is dedicated to improving this outcome for children in our community, not only ensuring they have access to the supports they need from birth to kindergarten entry, but giving them the opportunity to thrive for years to come.

Learn more about kindergarten readiness in our community

The Ready for K Alliance is committed to improving outcomes for children by focusing on four outcomes areas:

  • HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT

    Children are born healthy with access to resources to maintain healthy development.

  • ACCESS AND QUALITY

    Families have access to affordable, high-quality early care and education.

  • FAMILY AND CAREGIVER ENGAGEMENT

    Families and caregivers are equipped with knowledge and understanding of their child’s development and involve themselves in helping them thrive.

  • SYSTEMS ALIGNMENT

    Institutions, services, and agencies serving children are comprehensive, collaborative, aligned and coordinated.

Ready for K Action Networks:

Healthy Development Action Network

The Healthy Development Action Network launched Ready for K’s first-ever family and caregiver leader council. Contracting with National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) this Action Network is learning best practices, developing policies and procedures, and recruiting families and caregivers to serve on the parent leader council. Once the council is established, it will work alongside the Action Network to identify issues and develop solutions in the healthy development space to support Jefferson Co. families.

Access & Quality Action Network

The Access & Quality Action Network launched a neighborhood-focused quality improvement initiative for center-based child care providers in the Russell neighborhood. Russell: A Place of Promise, Community Coordinated Child Care (4-C), and Child Care Aware are the primary partners on this project. Phase one of this project is focused on co-creating a quality improvement initiative with Russell center-based providers. Phase two will be the launch of the quality improvement initiative created in phase one. Once launched in the Russell neighborhood the Action Network has a goal of expanding to additional neighborhoods.

Family & Caregiver Engagement Action Network

The Family & Caregiver Engagement Action Network is contracting with National Center for Families Learning (NCFL) to create unified messaging, a sole source of resources, and a timeline on transition to kindergarten for community partners. The primary partners in this project in addition to NCFL are La Casita, Play Cousins Collective, JCPS, and Child Care Aware. The project includes quarterly professional development for Ready for K partners, a communications toolkit for partners to use on their social media and in communications to families, as well as a calendar with JCPS deadlines and community partner events. All resources for this project can be found on Ready for K’s website here.

Ready for K Alliance Guiding Team

The Ready for K Alliance leadership team, the Guiding Team, is comprised of key stakeholders and content experts who serve as an advisory team, monitoring progress toward goals and seeking out opportunities to make collective asks to advance the work. Metro United Way serves as the community lead for the Ready for K Alliance, uniting organizations and individuals around the first, critical years of a child’s life.

Ready for K Alliance
Partner Organizations

American Heart Association Americana Backside Learning Center Bernheim Forest
Bezos Academy Black Birth Justice C. E. and S. Foundation CASA of the River Region
Catholic Charities of Louisville Child Care Aware Chrystal Power Consulting Coleman Preparatory Academy
Community Coordinated Child Care 4-C Cornerstone Child Development Center Cross Creations Child Care Culzzles Child Care
Dare to Care Food Bank Early Learning Campus – University of Louisville Elijahs Little Learners Evolve502
Family and Children’s Place Family Health Centers Family Scholar House First Steps Academy
Granny’s Birth Initiative Greater Louisville Inc. Harbor House of Louisville Highlands Community Ministries
IDEAS xLab Imagination Library James Graham Brown Foundation Jefferson Community & Technical College (JCTC)
Jefferson County Extension Office Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) Jefferson County Regional Collaborative Jefferson Memorial Forest
JTown Academy Kentuckiana Works Kentucky Educational Television (KET) Kentucky Refugee Ministries
Kentucky Voices for Health Kentucky Youth Advocates (KYA) Keystone Learning Academy Kreative Kids
La Casita Center Lift a Life Foundation Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Lock Up Lead
Louisville Ballet Louisville Central Community Centers (LCCC) Louisville Free Public Library Louisville Metro Government
Louisville Metro Public Health & Wellness (LMPHW) Louisville Nature Center Louisville Parks and Recreation Louisville Urban League
Louisville Water Company Louisville Zoo Mama to Mama March of Dimes
Metro United Way Metropolitan Housing Coalition Molina Health National Center for Families Learning (NCFL)
Neighborhood House, Inc. New Directions Housing Corporation Northeast Family YMCA Child Development Center Norton Healthcare
Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative (OVEC) Olmstead Parks Conservancy Our Angels Child Care Parks Alliance of Louisville
Peanut Butter & Jelly Kindercare Play Cousins Collective PNC Poplar Montessori
Portland Promise Center Prepping for K Academy Providence Childcare & Preschool Rush ’em On In
Russell: A Place of Promise Seven Counties Services Side by Side Studio Skillz 4 Life
Sleepy Dreams Child Care Smoketown Family Wellness Center St. Benedict Center for Early Childhood Education St. Joseph Child Development Center
Stage One: The Louisville Children’s Theatre Talk Childcare To Me Temple Academy Daycare and Learning Center The Better Together Collective
The Gheens Foundation The Learning Tree The Prichard Committee The Wright Place Day Care
Thrive by 5 Louisville Trinity House Child Care University of Louisville Until Justice Data Partners
Visually Impaired Preschool Services Wesley House Community Services Wilderness Louisville, Inc. YMCA of Greater Louisville, Inc.
Zora’s Cradle

Preparing all to achieve

See how we’re preparing all kids to win and kindergarten right from the start.

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