Pleasant Valley Elementary School Principal Erica Greer and her team of dedicated teachers, counselors and staff have teamed up with local preschools to make sure that the district's infants, toddlers and preschoolers get the best possible start on their lifelong journey into education.

"Children are learning every day," Greer said. "By utilizing the resources that are available to families of our district, the parents can turn an everyday occurrence, like a trip to the grocery store, into another opportunity to teach and learn."While the district has partnered with local preschools, a child does not have to be enrolled in preschool to be a part of the program. The online programs and the Ready Set Read Now program, which takes place at the elementary school are open and available to all district families.The Pennsylvania Governor's Institute is a collaboration between the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the Office of Child Development and Early Learning.The institute sets out guidelines and resources for districts to meet and a series of goals specifically focused on birth to third grade.The 10 focal areas were:• Responsive caregivers and effective teachers;• Effective leadership;• Comprehensive learning standards across settings;• Access to high quality learning environments;• Comprehensive reliable and useful assessment systems;• Effective coordination between settings;• Supports for the engagement of all families;• Supports for health and wellness;• Effective instructional strategies for young children;• Linkages to community supportsTeam members from Pleasant Valley attended the institute in July. The team was pleasantly surprised to realize how far along they already are with the existing program and find that they are able to focus their attention on three of the 10 points listed above."In discussions with other teachers and administrators we realized that we are ahead of the curve in a lot of areas," Greer said. "We were able to assist other districts by answering some of their questions and explaining how we have built our program. The institute gives us a great opportunity to share our ideas and to learn what works."This year, Pleasant Valley will be focusing on access to high-quality learning environments, effective coordination between settings and linkages to community supports.One of the ways it is going about meeting these goals is through the ongoing partnership with the area preschools.Pleasant Valley's Early Learning Team has two members, AnneMarie Long and Lisa Eick, both from The Growing Place preschool. The Growing Place has been involved with the district from the inception of the Early Learning Initiative."There are a number of other preschools involved," Greer said. "We invite them all to join us every year. Unfortunately some just are not interested."The preschools involved in the program get visits from school-based team members during the year and visits from Dewey the bookmobile. Parents are sent home information and updates on the programs available from the district as well.Another way the district involves families of preschool age children in the program is through the Ready Set Read Now program. The program takes place in the evening, five times per school year. Each session has a theme, including Book and Print Awareness and Letter Naming."By bringing these children into the school as many times as possible before the first day of kindergarten we help to eliminate the confusion and anxiety for these kiddos," said Greer."The more times these kids visit the school and get to feel comfortable here the easier it is for them. Also, when a little one has a sibling here, we encourage the parents to bring the preschooler to school events so they get used to the setting."Dewey the bookmobile is often present at the Ready Set Read Now programs. When Dewey is there the children get to visit the bus and select a book to take home to keep.If parents are unable to attend Ready Set Read Now they still have other resources to take advantage of. There are online resources available including Ready Baby, Ready Rosie and Bringing Up.The websites can be accessed through the district's website or by searching online.The sites are free to those within the district. When you register you will select the ages of your children and the site will automatically send you activities for each age group. The district also distributes a calendar provided by the Pocono Alliance, which lists simple activities for each day.Some of these activities are physical, such as jumping on one foot or throwing and catching a ball. Others are aimed at mathematics, such as having the child count how many books they have on a shelf. For letter recognition have the child find items around the house that begin with the letter of the day.Each of the activities is simple, short and fun. They are designed to teach without frustrating or boring children and can be done by the whole family together. Many of the activities can be adapted to fun games to be played on long car rides or even short trips to the grocery store.The district website has a lot of information and links. The Ready Set Read Now dates are listed on the PVE calendar. The district also sends out newsletters throughout the year to residents with information and important dates.