Early Learning Access

Equal Start is Beth Am’s social justice initiative whose goal is creating access to high-quality early learning for all California children from birth to five years of age. Equal Start is especially focused on addressing the needs of underserved areas in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties.

As outlined in a recent report by Professor Debra Stipek of the Stanford School of Education, the benefits of early childhood education are huge; there are, however, significant challenges that prevent many children in our community from accessing such early childhood education. The research is clear that children who are not performing at grade level by the age of eight have a really hard time ever catching up.

Beth Am congregants are engaged in the following actions to overcome these challenges (please check back often as these links are regularly updated):

• advocacy: supporting legislative initiatives and arranging community educational forums
• partnering with other key organizations: developing relationships and conducting joint projects with community partners
• direct interaction with pre-school children and their teachers: working with preschool children and their teachers

For additional background, see a sampling of our recent accomplishments.

Also, see the November Builder article entitled New Opportunities to Join the Equal Start Volunteer Team or contact equalstart-info@betham.org for more information.