Westbury Even Start
Westbury Even Start benefits families in the Westbury School District by providing literacy services to help children and their parents enjoy lives that are fuller, more productive and more secure.
What is the Westbury Even Start Family Literacy Program?
Even Start is a New York State sponsored federal program offered through
a partnership between the Westbury Union Free School District and the
Westbury Memorial Library. Even Start provides a combination of
age-appropriate education for children, parent literacy training and
interactive literacy activities for parents and children. The program
also teaches parents how to become full partners in the education of
their children. These activities are all provided at no cost to
families.
Who is eligible for Even Start?
Even Start provides services to children from birth to age 8 and their
parents who reside in the Westbury School District. Eligibility is based
on parental need in terms of high levels of poverty and low levels of
literacy. The program also serves grandparents and other related adult
caregivers. Preparing children to succeed in school Even Start draws on
proven research to facilitate reading and reading-readiness in
pre-school children. Through direct instruction, home visits, and
parenting intervention, the program focuses on literacy and language
skills using developmentally appropriate instruction.
Providing literacy training for parents as a first step to
economic self-sufficiency
Even Start develops adult literacy skills to foster economic
independence, improve performance of day-to-day activities, and
facilitate job retention and promotion.
The program incorporates quality instructional practices based on the
latest research.
Training parents to effectively participate in educating their
children
Even Start supports children’s literacy development by focusing on the
parent’s role in sharing literacy material, using expressive and
repetitive language, reading with children and reinforcing learning. The
program helps children become successful in school by promoting the
parent’s role in communicating with schools, nurturing good health and
ensuring a safe environment where constructive learning can occur.
Fostering interactive literacy activities between children and
parents
Even Start encourages children and parents to engage in literacy
activities together. The program provides opportunities to apply and
practice parenting skills to reinforce children’s literacy development.
A Unique Situation
Service integration, intensity and duration set the Even Start Family
Literacy Program apart from other efforts to improve child and family
literacy outcomes.
Even Start Family Literacy:
- Prepares children for success in school.
- Provides literacy training for parents as a first step to economic self-sufficiency.
- Trains parents to effectively participate in educating their children.
- Fosters interactive literacy activities between children and parents.
Westbury Even Start is a partnership between the Westbury Union Free School District and the Westbury Memorial Library
Contact:
Helen Boxwill,
Coordinator
Westbury Even Start
Dryden Street School
545 Dryden Street
Westbury, NY 11590
Tel: (516) 874-1660
Fax: (516) 874-1690
