Early Childhood Education
Community
Early childhood education is an investment in our entire community. Community Foundation of North Louisiana is leading the Early Childhood Education Scholarship Initiative to provide annual scholarships for children ages birth to 3 to attend high-quality Type III childcare centers.
All children need high-quality educational experiences in the crucial years leading up to kindergarten, but benchmark testing reveals that 60% of children in Caddo Parish are not kindergarten ready.
Guided by research demonstrating that high-quality early childhood education gives children the strong developmental start they deserve, CFNLA has leveraged over $25 million since 2021 as part of its Early Childhood Education (ECE) Scholarship Initiative.
At an average of $9,500 per year, high-quality early childhood education is unaffordable for many families in our community.
Thanks to funds raised by CFNLA through private donors and matching dollars from the State of Louisiana, over 1,000 children have received scholarships to high-quality Type III childcare centers in North Louisiana.
Scholarships funded through the CFNLA ECE initiative have increased enrollment in Type III childcare centers by 43% for ages 0 to 3 and 34% for ages 0 to 2. Fall 2024 assessments of children entering kindergarten in Caddo Parish Schools revealed those who attended Type III childcare centers performed 30% better in reading and 25% better in math than children who remained at home during this crucial developmental stage.