Message from our Executive Director

Thank you for visiting Ready At Five’s website.  Ready At Five is working with state and local governments, community leaders, early childhood practitioners, businesses, advocates and parents to increase the number of children who enter Maryland’s schools ready to succeed. In eight years, the ability of Maryland kindergarten students to do kindergarten work has shown an extraordinary improvement, jumping from 49% in 2001-2002 to 73% in 2008-2009. A twenty-four point increase is rare in the education arena.  It is a testament to the dedication and focus on Maryland’s stakeholders – early childhood professionals, teachers and administrators, parents and community service providers.

It makes sense to invest in our young children!  Investing in the early years provides our best chance of propelling children toward success in school and in life. Kindergarteners who are ready to succeed when they begin school are less likely to need targeted support or special education services, less likely to be involved in the juvenile justice system, to drop out of school and less likely to perform poorly in their adult jobs.  All of these problems have profound costs—for children, for our communities and for our state.  One of the smartest investments we can make is investing in the early years and supporting the school readiness of all Maryland’s children. It’s a Maryland workforce issue!

Join with Ready At Five so together we can ensure all Maryland’s children have the support and resources to enter school ready to succeed. Please browse our website and decide how you can actively support school readiness.  You can purchase our Parents Matter publications, download ParentTips and other resources to support parents as their child’s first teacher and share them with your neighbor, a colleague at work or a parent at a soccer or baseball event.

You can attend a School Readiness Symposia and you can become familiar with our curricula resources and community-based programs and initiatives. You can make a contribution to Ready At Five so that we can continue to support Maryland’s young children and their families who are not ready to succeed.

Remember:  The Early Years Matter.  They are an Investment in the Future! 

I look forward to hearing from you

Louise J. Corwin

Executive Director

info@readyatfive.org