For a DVD of this presentation, contact
Total Learning Institute at arts education IDEAS, 203-229-0411

A community birth to nine initiative that will

1. Change the way low-income children are educated
   
2. Prepare parents of very young children to support their children's cognitive, language and emotional development
   
3. Change the public school model
   
4. Prepare parents to support their children's academic progress
   
5. Reduce the Achievement Gap

How:

Birth - 3

• Provide brain-nurturing community-based music and movement classes for parents and children birth to three.
  
• Provide a System of Care early intervention for high risk families with infants and toddlers

3 - 5 Year Olds

• Provide brain-nurturing community-based music and movement classes for providers and children three to five.
  
• Improve quality of early childhood instruction

Kindergarten - Grade 4

• Increase the number of hours children participate in academic activities throughout the year
  
• Provide intensive, embedded professional development through which teachers learn multi-sensory, hands-on, brains-on strategies to reach all learners and the whole child.
  
• Provide comprehensive family services for all families with case management support and a strong parental involvement component.

What makes Total Learning unique:

• Total Learning is a Public School initiative. We do not selectively include children who meet specified criteria or standards. We work with ALL children, regardless of abilities, disability, or income. There are 23,000 children in the Bridgeport Board of Education school system and millions more across the country that will be impacted by Total Learning.
• Total Learning is a collaborative representing all aspects of the community, including mental health, social services, health, education and the business community.
• Total Learning brings together practices and policies that have been researched, tested and shown to be effective from a broad range of disciplines and combine them with pedagogy and policy.
• Total Learning is a Community Effort involving the Board of Education, Higher Education, a Community Action Agency, experts in professional development, early childhood experts and providers, parents, mental health systems and funders all joining together to reduce the achievement gap and improve the lives of children in poverty.