Supporting Partners to Assure Ready Kids (SPARK)

Program Overview

Supporting Partnerships
To Assure Ready Kids (SPARK) works with families of preschool age children to help get them ready for kindergarten. The program serves communities with high unemployment rates, high rates of economic disadvantage, and limited access to community resources.Through SPARK, families
get help to support and ensure their children's success. SPARK parent partners visit the home monthly to conduct prescribed lessons and activities based on Early Learning and Development Standards. They work with the parents to devise a learning plan to ensure that the child will begin kindergarten ready and
excited for school. At the end of the lesson the family gets a bag containing the book read that day, materials to practice new skills introduced, activity ideas and tips sheet discussing that days learning and how they can foster the growth of the skill. SPARK also conducts developmental screenings. If a child is found to have barriers to school readiness (such as speech or behavioral issues), SPARK initiates referrals to needed community resources. The goal is to address concerns long before the child arrives at the schoolhouse door.

Student and Volunteer Success Stories

Unlike other initiatives that focus solely on policies or the
classroom, SPARK addressed...parent engagement, public will, culture, and coordinated
service delivery.
Tony Berkley

Former Deputy Director of Education and Learning

W.K. Kellogg Foundation