School Attendance: Does it Really Matter?

School Attendance: Does it Really Matter?

Myth: Attending Elementary School Regularly Doesn’t Matter Reality: Elementary school is the period when children gain basic social and academic skills that are the foundation for their education. Nationally, one in 10 kindergarten and first grade students miss nearly...
Reflections on the Year

Reflections on the Year

I had coffee yesterday with a friend whom I hadn’t seen in a while.  Our kids attended Sunday school together, and we had lots to catch up on.  It seems like it’s always hard to believe that almost two years had passed since our last conversation – in some ways,...
4th Plus Work Group

4th Plus Work Group

This fall, representatives of local community based organizations, Bellevue School District, the City of Bellevue, Bellevue College, United Way of King County and Eastside Pathways began to meet and discuss how we might deepen supports of young people beginning in...
Moving from Proving to Improving

Moving from Proving to Improving

At the end of September, Susan [Sullivan] and I flew to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to attend the Strive Network 2012 Cradle to Career Network convening. We hadn’t realized when we scheduled the trip that our visit would follow only five days after Seattle’s controversial...