Arts Enrichment Initiative Collaborative Partners

The FIRST 5 Commission of Santa Clara County regard the Arts as critically important for a child's social, emotional and cognitive development. At the direction of the Commission, a planning group was formed to guide the development of the Arts Enrichment Initiative, whose mission is to cultivate a network of resources which increases the availability and accessibility of appropriate Arts experiences for children prenatal through age five and their families. The planning group identified the gaps and barriers that prevent children prenatal through age five in Santa Clara County from experiencing the Arts. The following is a list of those partners and collaborators who are specially equipped to help parents and caregivers overcome those barriers and to assist in promoting greater Arts participation:

 

FIRST 5 Santa Clara County
Research shows that a child's brain develops most dramatically in the first five years of life and what parents and caregivers do during these years to support their child's growth will have a meaningful impact throughout the child’s life. Based on this research, California voters passed Proposition 10 in 1998, adding a 50-cent per pack tax on cigarettes to support programs for expectant parents and children ages prenatal through the age of 5.
FIRST 5 Santa Clara County supports the healthy development of children through age 5 and enriches the lives of their families and communities through an annual community investment of approximately $28 million.

 

Artsopolis.com
Artsopolis.com - a project of Arts Council Silicon Valley's Artsopolis Marketing Partnership - is the leading online resource for Arts and Cultural information in Silicon Valley and beyond. It offers the largest database of Silicon Valley Arts and Cultural events, as well as additional listings of classes and workshops, jobs, auditions, organizations, venues, individual artists, and more. Launched in August 2003, the site has grown both in the number of site visitors and in the services and information it provides. ArtsopolisKids.com leverages Artsopolis.com's success to increase the visibility of the region's youth-oriented, age-appropriate cultural events and activities.

 

Arts Council Silicon Valley
Established in 1982, Arts Council Silicon Valley is an independent non-profit regional arts support and planning agency. As the state/local partner with the California Arts Council, ACSV is the largest non-profit arts council in the state. Artsopolis.com is a project of Arts Council Silicon Valley's Artsopolis Marketing Parntership (AMP).

 

E3 Institute
The purpose of the E3 Institute Advancing Excellence in Early Education (formerly known as the Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development) is to support and strengthen early childhood professional development through education, recruitment, and financial incentives. The Institute serves California's Santa Clara County and reaches new recruits, family child care providers, center-based programs, programs for children with special needs, employers, faith-based providers, and the corporate community with the goal of leveraging local resources for child care professionals, especially through the Comprehensive Approaches to Raising Educational Standards(CARES) program. The Institute is made possible by funding from FIRST 5 Santa Clara County and FIRST 5 California.

 

San Jose Public Library
The San Jose Public Library provides numerous arts enrichment experiences appropriate for young children. These programs include hands-on arts and crafts, story times, and performances. Story time programs feature an assortment of storytelling, read-aloud stories, puppetry, singing, readers' theater, poems, finger plays, action activities, crafts, hands-on demonstrations, and more. The San Jose Public Library works in partnership with FIRST 5 Santa Clara County and the E3 Institute Advancing Excellence in Early Education to research, develop and distribute educational materials that support developmentally appropriate practices for children prenatal through age five and their families.

 

Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose
The Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose, the striking and easily-recognizable 52,000 square foot purple building in downtown San Jose, serves the needs of children, families and schools as a center for learning and discovery. For children, it is first and foremost a place to call their own, offering interactive exhibits and programs in a warm and inviting setting. Its educational mission encompasses the themes of Connections, Community, and Creativity. In its unique environment, children actively make connections among ideas, people and cultures. The Museum's programs also encourage children to define their role in and contribution to both local and global communities. Finally, as a center for creative play and expression, the Museum provides opportunities for visitors of all ages to discover the world through the eyes of our children. The Museum features several FIRST 5 Santa Clara County sponsored exhibits, including the newly-opened The Wonder Cabinet.

 

West Valley College/SCC Community Colleges
Santa Clara County Community Colleges work in partnership with FIRST 5 Santa Clara County and the E3 Institute Advancing Excellence in Early Education to provide research and develop curriculum for early childhood development through the arts. They provide in-service training in music, visual and performing arts curriculum for early care educators, parents and caregivers into the FIRST 5 training program. The trainings focus on the value of early childhood development and developmentally appropriate arts practices for children prenatal through age 5. At West Valley College these services are provided through its Child Studies Department.

 

Wolf Trap Institute for Learning through the Arts
Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning Through the Arts works in partnership with FIRST 5 Santa Clara County and the E3 Institute Advancing Excellence in Early Education to participate in the development of a new model in performing arts education education and teacher training. Founded in 1981, the Institute provides arts-in-education services for children ages 3-5 and their teachers and families through the disciplines of drama, music and movement.

 

Other FIRST 5 Partners

 

Bring Me A Book
Bring Me A Book™ Foundation (BMABF) is an award winning nonprofit social enterprise committed to inspiring and encouraging parent and teacher involvement in reading aloud to young children. BMABF provides high quality, multi-cultural children's books, caregiver and teacher educational tools and community outreach programs. Bring Me A Book™ Foundation serves more than 44,500 children and families in over 210 sites with three different programs: The Book Bag Library in the Workplace (BBL), The Bookcase Library, and The First Teachers Curriculum.

 

Hooked on Nature
Hooked on Nature initiatives supported by First 5 focus on children's health and early education, as well as strengthening networks within the community. The north regional partnership is collaborating with Hooked On Nature on a project called Plant A Seed, Grow A Reader. Parents receive bookmarks with ideas for fun activities that help build pre-reading skills. Children have the opportunity to plant a seed to take home..