Wayne County Children's Coaltion

Did you know that what children learn before kindergarten affects their success in school and in life?

The first five years are absolutely essential to brain development and shaping literacy, their mathematical skills, and their social skills – we cannot recreate this opportunity later in life.

When it comes to early learning, there are no “do-overs.”

This October, help us celebrate quality early education and the families, teachers and leaders that help our young children reach their promise every day.

The Wayne County Children’s Coalition is the state’s Community Engagement Group for the county. The group works to raise awareness about the amazing difference that child care, preschool and/or pre-k can make in the life of a child. Regardless of a child’s life at home, if he or she has the solid foundation for learning before starting kindergarten, that child is so much more likely to succeed in school.

Research indicates that most of a child’s brain development happens in the first 3 years of life. That is why, in addition to learning at home, quality early care and education is a crucial first step toward a child’s success in school and in life.

As Wayne County’s Community Engagement Group, the Children’s Coalition works closely with other familiar programs:

Keystone STARS—a rating system for child care sites created to aid parents in choosing a high-quality child care setting.

PA Pre-K Counts—the state’s pre-k program that is active in communities where pre-k is not currently offered by the school district.

WIC—a federally funded health and nutrition program for Women, Infants and Children. WIC helps families by providing checks for buying healthy supplemental foods from WIC authorized stores, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and help finding healthcare and other community services.

Department of Health - Department of Health

Early Intervention— The Pennsylvania Early Intervention program provides support and services to families with children from birth to age 5 who have developmental delays. Early Intervention builds upon the natural learning opportunities that occur within the daily routines of a child and his/her family.

Early Intervention services are provided at no cost to families.
Birth-Age 3
Age 3-Age 5

Wayne Highlands School District - Wayne Highlands School District

Wallenpaupack School District -  Wallenpaupack School District

Western Wayne School District - Western Wayne School District

Wayne County Public Libraries - Wayne County Public Libraries

“There are national studies that have tracked children who attended preschool 40 years ago. That group, which faced poverty and other challenges throughout their life, is still more successful, 40 years later, than their peers who did not attend preschool.”