Foothills United Way Focus On: Education
Foothills United Way's emphasis on education supports learning and development of people so they become responsible, contributing members of the community. The expected outcomes are that children are prepared to succeed in school, and youth are prepared to succeed in the community.
- In Boulder County, it is estimated that more than 1000 children receive no licensed child care. As children enter school, as early as kindergarten, kids from higher socio-economic households on average score higher than Free and Reduced Lunch counterparts.
- Early initiation behaviors continue to show downward trends from 2003-2009 but is important to focus on due to its impact on other behaviors.
- Colorado has one of the worst records in the nation of graduating kids of color. For example,less than half of the Latino males in the St. Vrain Valley School District graduated from high school in 2010. Also, for every 100 Latino 9th graders in Colorado public schools, only nine will go on to graduate from college.
Foothills United Way works to change community conditions in education by:
- Increasing the percentage of lower-income students who are measured as ready to start school at the appropriate age.
- Decreasing the number of youth engaging in early initiation as defined by the Youth Risk Behavior Survey.
- Increasing the number of youth of color who graduate high school.