The Institute for Human and Social Development, a longtime local child-care nonprofit, will provide preschool services for Ravenswood City School District families at the Child Development Center, the San Mateo County Office of Education announced Friday.
The district will cease to operate the state-funded preschool program in June due to budget cuts. The county Office of Education has been in negotiations with the California Department of Education since February to take over the state preschool slots under a new provider.
The nonprofit’s services span education, literacy, health, mental health and parent engagement.
The Institute for Human and Social Development provides care and education to children from birth through 5 years old at sites throughout the Bay Area, including three locations in East Palo Alto and one in Menlo Park. The nonprofit has operated for more than three decades in San Mateo County.
In a press release, San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools Anne Campbell said her office chose the Institute for Human and Social Development for its “long history of managing high quality programs in our county as well as an innovative approach that will be a great fit for the changing needs of the Ravenswood community.”
The Institute for Human and Social Development currently serves more than 250 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers in state preschool programs overseen by the county. The nonprofit is also a federal grantee for the Head Start and Early Head Start programs, which offer child development and family support services to low-income families with young children.
All children currently enrolled at the Child Development Center at 951 O’Connor St. will be able to continue at the new preschool and staff will have the opportunity to apply for jobs there.
The Institute for Human and Social Development will run the full-day, full-year preschool as a mixed model program, with some students funded entirely through the state preschool program and others paying partial or full tuition, according to the county.
The final step, which needs to happen in the next week or so, Campbell told the Ravenswood school board on Thursday, will be for the district and county Office of Education to sign a facilities use agreement so that the state will release its preschool slots to the county.
Campbell’s staff has also been in touch with East Palo Alto private school The Primary School, which uses several rooms at the Child Development Center.
“We’ve been in conversation about how best to share facilities and work together collaboratively,” Campbell said.
The county, school district and Institute for Human and Social Development plan to hold a meeting for Child Development Center parents in May.
Hopefully, they will not hire sharifa’s domestic partner or Glorias relatives. At least the teachers will not be harrassed by the new director as Glenda harrassed them. She created a hostile environment. I am glad that that after Gloria dumped the CDC students some one was able to come and care for them.