The SCC R&R is a close partner of Santa Clara County’s high quality child care initiative, QUALITY MATTERS…a STRONG START for kids.
The QUALITY MATTERS initiative has a vision that all children in Santa Clara County will be engaged in high quality early learning programs. QUALITY MATTERS brings Santa Clara County partners together around quality early learning, inspiring early educators, strengthening families, and uniting the community around the critical goal of ensuring high quality early learning and health outcomes for all children birth through age 8 so that they can achieve success in the future.
FIRST 5 Santa Clara County and the Santa Clara County Office of Education serve as the co-lead organizations for QUALITY MATTERS as part of a state-wide initiative called Quality Counts California.
Why QUALITY MATTERS
The first five years of a child’s life are extremely vital. Research shows that the care and education children receive from prenatal to age 5 play a major role in their brain development. High-quality early learning experiences make a lasting difference—they help prepare children to succeed in kindergarten and beyond. In fact, studies have shown that children who attend high-quality early learning programs achieve higher scores on reading and math exams, and are more likely to graduate from high school and have successful careers.
QUALITY MATTERS is a voluntary program supporting educators and providers in Santa Clara to raise the quality of the care and education they provide. Providers opt-in to participate in QUALITY MATTERS and participate in targeted activities like participating in training and education to work towards raising the quality of their program. For more information about QUALITY MATTERS, please contact: earlylearning@first5kids.org