{"id":445016,"date":"2026-11-02T11:50:13","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T11:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/445016\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T11:50:13","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T11:50:13","slug":"nemours-new-effort-aims-to-get-kids-ready-for-kindergarten","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/445016\/","title":{"rendered":"Nemours new effort aims to get kids ready for kindergarten"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the neighborhoods near Camping World Stadium, academic struggles often begin early, with most youngsters starting kindergarten ill-prepared for their first reading lessons.<\/p>\n

Barely a quarter of the children attending public schools in that section of west Orlando tested \u201cready\u201d for school when they began kindergarten last fall, meaning many could not recognize the ABCs, letter sounds or rhyming words. Without those early literacy skills, years of school problems can follow.<\/p>\n

An ambitious new initiative aims to change that. Funded by the Ginsburg Institute at Nemours Children\u2019s Health, its goal is simple and lofty: Get all children living in the 32805 ZIP code prepared for kindergarten.<\/p>\n

The Kindergarten Readiness Works! program, launched last year, is working with 40 preschools in the ZIP code, training teachers on early literacy education and offering screenings for developmental delays, parenting workshops, and book giveaways. Nemours declined to disclose the project\u2019s cost.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur North Star is creating a healthy generation of children, and so we are in this for the long term, and we will be assessing and learning and measuring short term metrics as we go,\u201d said Nancy Molello, executive director of the Ginsburg Institute. \u201cBecause ultimately we want to lead and have other health systems do this work in their jurisdictions as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nemours Children\u2019s Health has medical facilities in multiple states, including a children\u2019s hospital in Lake Nona, and a broad mission to \u201chelp children grow into healthy adults\u201d by focusing on medical care but also other areas, including education and housing. Its Ginsburg Institute was founded in 2022 with a $25\u202fmillion gift from the Ginsburg Family Foundation.<\/p>\n

Nemours simultaneously launched a similar kindergarten-readiness initiative in Wilmington, Delaware, where it has operated a pediatric hospital for decades. The need for such efforts, the hospital says, is obvious: Children who start kindergarten with solid early literacy skills are more likely to become strong readers, graduate from high school, attend college, get decent-paying jobs and even live longer than those who don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The 32805 ZIP code, which includes the Rock Lake, Holden Heights and West Lake neighborhoods, runs along the western border of downtown Orlando, stretching from Colonial Drive south to Interstate 4.<\/p>\n

The median household income in the ZIP code is $40,500, about half that of the overall Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford metro area, according to U.S. Census data. The majority of the 19,300 residents are Black, and most are renters not homeowners.<\/p>\n

Just 26% of kindergarteners in the ZIP code\u2019s five public elementary schools tested \u201cready\u201d on Florida\u2019s assessment last year. The statewide average is 44%,<\/a> and the rate is more than 60% in wealthier parts of Orange County.<\/p>\n

Nemours\u2019 program is largely targeted at pre-kindergarten classrooms in the neighborhood, from those in small, family-run daycares to larger preschools, but the group works in some public elementary schools, too. Combined, the schools enroll about 340 pre-K students.<\/p>\n

Nemours chose the ZIP code, in part, because other nonprofits with similar goals already work there, giving the hospital ready partners.<\/p>\n

What the preschools want, the initiative learned, is training for their teachers.<\/p>\n

Most preschool teachers do not have a college degree and most earn little more than minimum wage.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat people don\u2019t realize is that early learning providers who work in the classroom, they don\u2019t necessarily have education,\u201d said Anna Kinchens, the early childhood education specialist at Lift Orlando, a nonprofit that has been working in the ZIP code for more than a decade. \u201cThey don\u2019t take classes on how to teach.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KINDERGARTENKINDERGARTEN READINESS INITIATIVE \u2014 Pre-k student Ari Holt, second from right, dons a crown while playing with classmates at Orange Center STEAM Academy in Orlando, Wednesday, October 28, 2026. The school receives VPK support through the Kindergarten Readiness Initiative, launched by Nemours Children’s Health. (Joe Burbank\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

Lift was already working with 18 preschools and now\u00a0has teamed up with Nemours on the kindergarten readiness initiative.<\/p>\n

REED Charitable Foundation, a Winter Park nonprofit providing literacy education, has too and is\u00a0helping to train teachers at many preschools in 32805.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an intensive training specifically for the age level, talking about letters and sounds but also how to develop vocabulary and comprehension,\u201d said Jamie Dozier, chief operating officer at REED. \u201cAll sorts of foundational skills that are critical to set our kids up for success when they get to kindergarten.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the training, the literacy specialist co-teaches classes, modeling for the preschool teacher how to put the lessons to use, and then regularly visits the school to provide ongoing support.<\/p>\n

The foundation also provides each class with a large plastic bin filled with educational games and curriculum supplies.<\/p>\n

Jasmine Craig, a teacher at Mt. Sinai Child Development Center, said the training has been inspiring. She particularly likes the handheld mirrors and photos of children\u2019s mouths forming different letter sounds.<\/p>\n

Students use the mirrors to watch themselves sounding out words, and the photos help guide them on how to form their lips.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I work, I like for it to be meaningful. There\u2019s a literacy crisis in America. People think, \u2018oh, it starts in middle school.\u2019 No, it starts here with me. I\u2019m very passionate about it,\u201d Craig said.<\/p>\n

Jessica Donaldson, a public-school teacher who teaches pre-K at Orange Center STEAM Academy, a charter school run by Lift, found value in the training as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very informative and a really great refresher from back in my college years of learning those things. And then they got us so many resources,\u201d Donaldson said. \u201cAnd it has been amazing so far. Just in this short time, I\u2019ve seen so much growth in my kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Nemours\u2019 funding, Lift now sponsors \u201cliteracy playdates\u201d in some preschools.<\/p>\n

At Little People Learning Center, every Thursday evening for three weeks families were invited to the school and served a free dinner. Teachers were paid extra to watch the children while parents were taught how\u00a0to bring classroom learning home.<\/p>\n

Rodnecia Jones, assistant director and teacher at Little People, said she can already see a difference in her students.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are definitely more confident,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019re not shying away, like when they first started. They\u2019re standing up in the middle of class screaming, \u2018I got it!’\u201d<\/p>\n

The initiative also includes the YMCA of Central Florida, which now has a mobile outreach van Nemours helped pay for that it drives to schools and community centers in the ZIP code, offering children physical activities, healthy snacks, lessons on nutrition and a mobile library.<\/p>\n

Nemours also plans on partnering with the Orange County Library System to bring literacy programming to children who don\u2019t go to preschool.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really view ourselves as a community quarterback,\u201d Molello said. \u201cThe quarterback can see the whole field and can help the team operate together to actually get that ball across the finish line, and that\u2019s how we feel about who we are with our community partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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