Resilient SI 2.0 (Early Childhood)

With support from the Robert R. McCormick Foundation, a new partnership between early educators and K-12 school districts is emerging.  Resilient Southern Illinois[1], a partnership of southern Illinois school districts, the Southern Illinois Coalition for Children & Families, and Child Care Resource & Referral-JALC are bringing awareness of Adverse Childhood Experiences and trauma-responsive practices to area’s public schools, childcare programs, Head Start programs, and Pre-K programs.  They also hope to better meet the needs of the region’s children by creating coordination and alignment between the early childhood education and K-12 systems.  

Teaching sitting at table with children and pointing to tablet screen

The Resilient Early Education Pilot will initially work with three area school districts and their “feeder systems” of childcare, Head Start, and Pre-K centers.  Teams of leaders from these organizations will help develop the actual program which will be based on the same principles as Resilient Southern Illinois:

  • Collaboration between labor and management in schools is essential.
  • Building leadership capacity and facilitating systems change are foundational to our work.
  • Our work must be approached with a racial equity and social justice lens.
  • Family and community engagement are central to the success of our efforts.
  • Investing in adults is critical to child well-being.

The program features many of the elements of Resilient Southern Illinois’ work with public schools including:

  • Building leadership teams;
  • Investing in their professional development;
  • Shaping ambitious but realistic plans;
  • Creating the flexibility needed for schools and early education sites to incorporate these insights into their day to day practices.