 Oakland Unified, our motto, is every student thrives. And we accomplish this through a community schools approach, where we look not just at a child's academic progress, but we also look at them through a whole child approach. Oakland Unified is completely committed to changing outcomes for children in preschool and TK and K. And it's really about making sure everyone's at the table. That's representing where all of our little ones are at. I'm Charles Miller. I'm principal here at Allendale Elementary School in the Oakland Unified School District. We serve 373 students, 90% of whom are free and reduced lunch. Over the last four years, we have worked to kind of create a series of early learning programs throughout the school. You guys ready? Lotus Bloom is a family resource center. Our mission is to really help increase the school readiness of children and families living in Oakland. About 10 years ago, when we started Lotus Bloom, 86% of the third graders in our district two were not reading and testing at grade level. And so we really wanted to close the education gap for children and families. What we found out is that a lot of children were coming into elementary school with no preschool or early learning background. And do you know what this is? This is that, the horse's head. At Allendale, we have what's called a school readiness playgroup. And what it is, is it's a zero to five playgroup that offers the parent-child program as an entryway into the elementary school. We try to create a loose routine for families where they get to come in and explore and do some arts and crafts, or play with some new toys, or do some counting and sorting with their parent or their caregiver. So we're increasing the capacity of our parent group and how they work with their youngest children. We're using the language of school, walking through the hallway, how to play on the playground, so that they arrive here just knowing what to do and how to be in school. Because their parents have been here with them. Parent Voices just did a study where they found that over 56% of people used informal caregivers. And so it's really important that we build programs in those neighborhoods and places where informal caregivers are gathering and provide the resources and support so that these are the children that get better outcomes. We really believe in building on the strengths and the knowledge of the parents that are within our program and our community. And then when they're ready, we'll ask them if they want to train with us. And so we have a parent leadership pipeline where they go through a three-day training with us and then they become a substitute teacher or a storytime leader. And then from there, they get to come on as staff. So it's not some stranger that's coming in and telling you what's right or wrong about your child, but it's someone who is an ally with you and who have been a witness to your life experience. And I think that is what makes a difference. The better that you can advocate for yourself, the better that you can advocate for your child, the better you're able to protect to your family and provide a better trajectory. Hi. Are you enjoying school? Do you like school? The greatest impact I see is culture and climate. Parents come to a school environment that's positive, community-based. They establish relationships with their kids with other families. They like just walking in. The next impact I see is on academic readiness and increased production of language. Children are hearing more language. Many of them are coming and reading. They have the academic language for instruction, counting, song, rhythm, drumming. Those are all kind of the components of development that will pay off for them academically. I think the biggest piece of change that's happened since the Starting Smart and Strong Initiative has begun is that all the right people are at the table, including partnerships with community-based organizations, with the city, with the mayor's office, with outside funders, and the school district at the core. And low-discipline has been sitting at the table helping to build out the informal caregivers, but also informing the work so that we could figure out how to maximize impact for the early childhood programs in the school districts.