ACE News
A Letter From The Director
January 2011
Dear Friends of ACE,
As we enter the spring semester, we have much to celebrate! Here are some highlights from Fall 2010:
- ACE expanded from four to seven elementary schools and will nearly double the number of K–2nd grade struggling readers who receive ACE tutoring.
- ACE strengthened and expanded our Parent Advocates for Literacy (PALs) initiative, which engages adults from our project schools as AmeriCorps tutors in preK classrooms. ACE PALs not only provide valuable tutoring and enrichment for their young charges, but the PALs themselves gain valuable job skills and earn a $2,650 education award for college. When parents improve their own education, we know their children's educational outcomes also improve!
- ACE is partnering with United Way Success by Six to bring the ACE early literacy intervention and teacher training to six childcare centers that serve low-income students.
- ACE partnered with Cristo Rey Church and the ¡Sí se puede! Program to provide Play and Learn classes to 15 families and their preschool children, helping them build school-readiness skills at home so children enter prekindergarten prepared to learn.
- Our second annual fundraising luncheon, Starting Strong with ACE, was a resounding success! Generous support from the community helped us exceed our goals for this event and lay the foundation to serve additional sites in 2011-12.
But, most importantly, every day over 100 ACE tutors are helping children to succeed in school! One of these children summed it all up when she greeted her tutor with these words: "I've been waiting to see you all day!"
I am filled with gratitude for our tutors, our staff, and the support we receive from our partners and the community.The need for early intervention is growing precisely when our schools are losing resources! ACE is a cost-effective, public–private partnership that can help bridge this gap. We are excited to work with key stakeholders this year to develop a growth plan that will make our vision of serving up to 50 schools in Central Texas in the next five to seven years a reality!
Happy New Year, and we hope you will visit us at one of our open house events this year!
Dr. Mary Ellen Isaacs
Program Director