Gates official impressed how early learning money spent

To improve student learning, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded $600,000 to nearly 50 Yakima child care centers in July.

On Monday, foundation officials began touring the sites to see how the money has been spent.

"I thought it was just fabulous," said Jodi Haavig, an early learning program officer with the foundation. "(These additions) will improve the kids' experience."

In 2006, the Gates chose Yakima as one of two Ready by Five early learning demonstration communities in Washington, the other being White Center near Seattle. Ready by Five aims to work in underserved communities to ensure children are ready for kindergarten by age 5.

The goal is to create a sustainable, integrated and accessible model that can be used statewide to strengthen early child development and family support services, Haavig said.

"We want to ensure all students can enter school ready for success," she said, adding Yakima was the only recipient of this grant cycle in Washington. "Yakima is one of many places where we've made early learning investments."

The $600,000 grant was shared between home-based and child care centers, which educate six to 12 and 40 to 140 children, respectively. The need-based recipients were chosen by the Gates' local partners, including Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital, Catholic Family Services and Educational Service District 105, which coordinates programming for use by 25 public area school districts.

One such grant recipient was the Country Kids Child Development Center at 909 N. 21st Ave., which received $40,000. The money was spent on a security door, a new phone system, lighting improvements and children's furniture.

As a subsidized center serving about 140 youths, Country Kids couldn't have funded the improvements on its own, said program director Deanne Eikenbary, who helped decide how the money was spent.

Hers is the first center to complete its improvement project, while others will continue doing so through the summer of 2012.

"I think they were shocked at the size of the facility and the rooms, as well as the interactions between students and teachers," Eikenbary said about the Gates representatives. "They were impressed with what we did with the money."

Haavig agrees, saying a center's environment helps mold a child's learning experience. Having a background in early childhood education herself, she said access and security are pivotal for youths and their families.

"I think it's a part of creating high-quality centers," she said.

Along these same lines, the Gates Foundation helps support Washington's voluntary quality rating and improvement system, called Seeds for Success.

Through the pilot program, select providers in Yakima, White Center and Clark, Kitsap and Spokane counties are receiving coaching and funding to test strategies designed to improve their quality of care.

The program -- overseen by Thrive by Five Washington and the Department of Early Learning -- is being funded through the Gates Foundation and the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The second year of testing ends in June.

* Erin Snelgrove can be reached at 509-577-7684 or esnelgrove@yakimaherald.com.