John C. Jones, president of HOPE Toledo, recently announced the organization’s partnership with nine community-based preschool providers to offer more than 200 high-quality, full-day, affordable preschool seats to 4-year-olds across the Toledo area.
The nine, inaugural HOPE Toledo Pre-K partner providers are: All 4 Kids, Believe Academy,
Catholic Club, Children's Discovery Center (Talmadge), East Toledo Family Center, Learning
Ladder Child Care 2, Quality Time Child Care Center, Rise and Shine Childcare Academy and
Toledo Day Nursery.
“We are truly excited to see our vision begin to come to fruition through our partnership with
these nine partner providers,” said Jones. “And this is just the start as we look to bring more
providers on board in order to fulfill our mission — that every Toledo child has the opportunity to
attend a high-quality early childhood educational program that prepares them to succeed in
kindergarten and beyond.”
Currently, more than 80% of Toledo’s children enter kindergarten without the skills, behaviors or
knowledge necessary for success (based on 2019 KRA scores). But high-quality, evidence-
based preschool programs have been shown to improve outcomes for children – throughout
their lives.
Studies show that children who start kindergarten ready to learn are more likely to pass 3rd-
grade reading tests, 8th-grade math tests, graduate from high school, go on to college, and earn
more income over their lifetimes. Criteria for high-quality programs include:
Full-day instruction
Income-based, sliding-scale tuition
Comprehensive curriculum-led learning
Low teacher-to-child classroom ratios
Active parent engagement
Well-prepared, highly qualified educators
Routine developmental assessments
Support, coaching, and funding to help providers achieve and maintain quality
Regular program evaluations and accountable oversight
“High-quality preschool can help children succeed in their first years of school and reduce the
early achievement gap,” said Dondra J. Coleman, Administrator and Owner of Learning Ladder
Child Care. “This is especially important for low-to-moderate income families who have
historically had to deal with disparities related to the achievement gap and everything that goes
with it,” she said.
“We are grateful for the partnership with HOPE Toledo because it allows us to serve families
who potentially couldn’t afford these opportunities otherwise,” said Coleman.
For more information or to enroll your child, visit HopeToledoPreK.com. For more information on
how to become a HOPE Toledo Pre-K Provider, contact Elisa Huss-Hage at elisa@hope-
toledo.org or call 419-367-8600.
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