There are 8 article(s) tagged First 8 Memphis:

• April 2021

  • Opinion: Teacher’s Discipline Act sets schools up for failure

    The “School to Prison Bill” prioritizes punishment over care for vulnerable and disadvantaged students.

    By Kandace Thomas April 13, 2021

• February 2020

  • First 8 hires leader for early childhood education efforts in Memphis

    Kandace Thomas, who was with the Irving Harris Foundation in Chicago for the last 13 years, will start work April 1 at the Memphis organization that oversees funding for early education initiatives.

    By Jacinthia Jones February 22, 2020

• November 2019

  • First 8 Memphis plans to serve 30,000 children and their families by 2025

    First 8 Memphis was formed earlier this year to financially support and advocate for more early childhood programming in Shelby County. 

    By Omer Yusuf November 15, 2019

• September 2019

  • 13 people will shape Shelby County’s vision on early childhood education

    The goal of First 8 Memphis is to bring together enough money to pay for pre-K for any child in Memphis who wants to attend, especially children in low-income neighborhoods.

    By Caroline Bauman September 26, 2019

  • Memphis coordinates preschool funding to boost quality

    A joint commitment to fund early education and prekindergarten services, including money for the first time from the city of Memphis, seeks to save thousands of prekindergarten seats that were in jeopardy when federal funding ended June 30.

    By Jacinthia Jones September 13, 2019

  • New early childhood nonprofit First 8 Memphis hires first director

    Longtime United Way of Mid-South executive Regina Walker was named executive director of First 8 Memphis. 

    By Omer Yusuf September 12, 2019

  • Pre-K advocacy group First 8 Memphis holds first public meeting

    The First 8 Memphis board discussed the early stages of its pre-k program and moved forward on a search for a permanent executive director. 

    By Omer Yusuf September 12, 2019

• June 2019

  • Now is the time to invest in early childhood

    Local data from pre-K this year shows the effectiveness of high-quality early childhood programs. Eighty-five percent of the 7,800 children who attended finished the year "ready for kindergarten," and more likely to read on grade level in third grade. 

    By Kathy Buckman Gibson June 20, 2019