Administered by the individual schools, the Success By 6 Pre-K Summer Program is in each of the 9 school districts in Oswego County and has total of 15 classrooms.  Success By 6 helps to find teachers and teachers’ assistants, as well as providing stipends for teachers, books, supplies and snacks for the children.  The Summer Program runs three days a week for four weeks in most school districts.  Approximately 250 students throughout Oswego County benefit from the program as they prepare to enter kindergarten. 

“The goal of Success By 6 is to make sure that every child has the tools and support they need to be successful in school by the time they are six years old.  The Summer Program works to this end by offering a nursery school program to all children entering kindergarten.  The program particularly focuses on children of families that are below the poverty line,” said Director of the United Way’s Success By 6 program, Bonnie Holmes.

The Success By 6 Summer Program features a well-rounded curriculum that includes special guest readers, a sun safety program presented by Cornell Cooperative Extension and basic social skills such as how to sit and pay attention and how to properly conduct yourself in a school environment. Holmes said that the Summer Program has proven to be successful over the years as statistics show that 90% of the students who attend the Summer Program complete 4th grade with their peers.

Supported by the United Way, the Success By 6 program strives to increase the effectiveness of the community to meet the needs of children up to age six and their families.  By sharing information and exploring new collaborations for service delivery, Success By 6 seeks to mobilize resources to ensure all children are physically, socially, emotionally and behaviorally able to learn when entering school.

For more information on the Success By 6 Pre-K Summer Program you may contact Bonnie Holmes at your United Way office, 593-1900.

About the photo: Ted Jackson, an AmeriCorps worker with the United Way’s Success By 6 program, busily prepares fun boxes for the Summer Pre-K Program.  The fun boxes are filled with materials, supplies, books and other items that will be used in each of the programs 15 classrooms.  The Success By 6 Summer Pre-K Program is administered in each of Oswego County’s nine school districts.