Chesapeake Comprehensive Plan For Children And Youth

Comprehensive Plan for Youth Ages 0-22 – Plan Summary

In 2008 the City of Chesapeake adopted a comprehensive plan for services for its children and youth ages 0-22. The plan was updated in 2013 to reflect the growing demographics and program changes with services to our youth and families. With the active participation of Chesapeake children and youth service providers and city departments, goals and priorities in programs and services for youth and families were adopted. The plan focuses on Chesapeake children and youth as a whole rather than any particular subgroup of children or youth, or any distinct issue, or any single area of the City.

The plan was created to align our city’s priorities for youth across city departments, schools, and the many community organizations focused on youth within our city. Our ongoing goal is to increase community collaboration to improve systems and programs for children and families. Our areas of concentration are: Early Care and Education, Family Engagement, Out of School Time and Workplace Readiness. Through this process of collaboration we will promote a system that families can utilize throughout their child’s development:

• R U Ready to be a parent?
• R U Ready for the birth of your child?
• R U Ready for a toddler?
• R U Ready for kindergarten?
• R U Ready for middle school?
• R U Ready for high school?
• R U Ready for college and the workforce?

The Chesapeake R U Ready system strives to support our children and families as they make each important transition by providing the necessary resources for success. It is our vision that all children in Chesapeake will enter school ready to learn and become valuable members of our workforce.

Our Collaborative System

Goals

Early Care and Education
All Chesapeake children will have access to a high quality early learning environment that will ensure they enter kindergarten ready to learn and assist in providing the foundation for future success in school, life and work.

• Enhancing Early Learning Environments
  • Provide training and professional development opportunities for early childhood professionals such as: the Virginia Star Quality Initiative, Early Education Small Business mentorship program, training programs and teacher educational scholarships.
• Ensuring Smooth Kindergarten Transitions
  • Educate the community on enrollment and school readiness information;
  • Offer parent and early care professional Kindergarten Readiness Workshops;
  • Offer training for kindergarten teachers, principals and childcare providers on kindergarten transition and community resources and connections.
• Promote grade level reading by the third grade
  • Expand and/or create programs that are designed to improve reading on grade level by third grade.
  • Educate the community on the importance of grade level reading by third grade to future school, work and life success.

Family Engagement
All Chesapeake families will have access to information, education and support to assist their role as the cornerstone of their child’s development and future success.

• Parent Education and Awareness
  • Provide a continuum of educational support and awareness through workshops, seminars, PSAs, articles and chesapeakeruready.com;
  • Develop and distribute a community resource guide that is updated yearly.
• Enhancing Early Home Environments and Family Stability
  • Implement outreach to parents to support their roles as their children’s first and primary teacher at the time of birth.
• Community Investment and Involvement
  • Promote and provide more recreational, social, and community service projects for Chesapeake children and families;
  • Educate the community on benefits of family involvement in school and in the larger community.

Out of School Time
All Chesapeake children should have access to supervised out of school activities that promote positive relationships, learning opportunities and assist in providing skills for school, work and life.

• Affordable, Accessible and High Quality Out of School time care
  • Provide professional development opportunities to city, community service agencies and churches on quality after school opportunities;
  • Educate community and schools on current after school opportunities.
• Collaborative partnerships that focus on providing more middle and high school after school opportunities
  • Educate community on the benefits of Out of School time opportunities.
• Preventing Summer Slide
  • Provide reading programs in our summer recreational programs;
  • Educate community on Summer Slide and the negative impact that it has on children’s learning and future success.
• Provide drop off facility for students suspended or expelled from school
  • Offer Out of School Suspension drop off center in targeted area.

Workplace Readiness
All Chesapeake youth should have opportunities to develop skills that prepare them to be successful in the workforce.

• Collaborative Partnerships that focus on our youth transition successfully into the workforce.
  • Promote GED programs;
  • Market Job Assistance sites in Chesapeake Libraries;
  • Integration of career information in elementary and middle school and promote on edline.
• Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) opportunities offered in our low income areas.
  • Provide job skill learning opportunities, such as STEM camps or youth career readiness training through community partnerships and collaborative funding.

» View the full 50 page Comprehensive Plan