NEWPORT, Ky. — Newport Independent Schools says only 20% of its children start kindergarten ready to learn and now city leaders are taking action with a new community-wide initiative aimed at changing those statistics.
The Newport City Commission recently adopted a resolution for "Read Ready Newport," a program that will bring together city government, schools, libraries, and community leaders to make learning resources more accessible to families throughout the community.
"Anywhere where we can get more educational outcomes for the children in our community-- the better off our community will be in the long run," said Joe Klare, a Newport resident and father of a 3-year-old.
Jenny Watson, Vice President for Early Learning and Family Power at EducateNKY, which will guide the effort, said the current kindergarten readiness rate creates significant challenges.
"About 48% of kids come into school ready to learn. However, in Newport, that number is more like in the low 20s. So only 20% of our kids are ready to learn," said Watson. "So that is just too difficult for teachers to be able to make up that much growth, and the city of Newport really sees that that is a civic responsibility."
Hear how Newport is tackling low kindergarten readiness with a new community-wide reading initiative:
The initiative includes several key components to reach children early in their development.
"One of the key elements would probably be the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and working with St. Elizabeth and our libraries to make sure that every baby who's born at St. Elizabeth is given the opportunity to enroll right away, before they ever leave the hospital," Watson said.
'Read Ready Newport' follows the success of a similar program in Convington. The program will also provide an app giving every child access to high-quality learning activities starting at age 3. The non-profit EducateNKY is funding the initiative, so there will be no cost to Newport taxpayers.
Klare, whose 3-year-old son loves to read, appreciates the city's investment in early childhood education.
"It really helps, I think drive a lot of interest in reading and literacy, which we know is a huge part of educational success, so anyway to do it, we should be doing it," said Klare.
Former Newport Independent Schools board member and city commissioner Aaron Sutherland expressed his support for the initiative.
As a community leader and parent, I am proud to support the Read Ready Newport Initiative. Far too many of our children are entering kindergarten unprepared—last year, less than 25% of Newport students were considered kindergarten-ready.
Read Ready Newport is another tool we have to change that. It helps families prepare their little ones for school from the very start. While we continue to advocate for broader solutions like Universal Pre-K, we’re making the most of the resources available to us—like the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which gifts a free book every month to every child from birth to age 5.
When we give children the strong start they deserve, we set them on a path to succeed, to learn at grade level, and to thrive throughout their school years and beyond.
Parents like Klare see the initiative as an investment in Newport's future. The next step is to bring the same resolution to the Newport Board of Education for adoption.
"They're the future, they're what most of us care about as parents, and as a father of a 3-year-old, I love having the initiative in Newport," said Klare.
