In 2018, Achieve Escambia created the Kindergarten Readiness Action Network (KRAN).
Why? For the first time since 2014, the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) had updated the kindergarten readiness rate for each county. The rate for children entering Escambia County kindergartens in the fall of 2017 was 45.77%, ranking the county 53rd out of 67 Florida counties.
How? On June 6, 2018, Achieve Escambia gathered 39 leaders to meet for three hours to set mid- and long-term goals for KRAN. By 2020, they wanted Escambia County to rank in the top half of Florida counties and increase the kindergarten readiness rate to 60%. By 2025, Escambia County’s rate would increase to 75% and rank in the top quartile. Read Kindergarten Readiness Goals, Objectives and Key Results June 2018
Workable? The Florida average was 53.95%. The state had 10 counties with 60% or higher, including Santa Rosa County. To make the 2020 goal, KRAN would need to help 414 more preschoolers prepare for school.
Reality: Escambia County saw very little improvement for the next five years.
Fall Kindergarten Readiness Scores:
2018: 45%
2019: 46%
2020: 47%
2021: 42%
2022: 45%
Surprise: The first cohort of kindergarteners who received the SCI Brain Bags and took part in programs promoted by the KRAN enrolled in school. The rate jumped to 50% in the fall of 2023.
Trend? The kindergarten readiness report for the fall of 2024 wasn’t posted by the Florida Department of Education this past spring, as it had for the past seven years. I ran across the 2024 data while researching another story. The numbers weren’t good. We learned quickly that one good number doesn’t make a trend.
The state average had dropped eight percentage points, from 51% to 43%. Escambia’s kindergarten readiness went from 50% to 36%. Of the 25 Florida counties with more than 2,000 children entering kindergarten, Escambia ranked 24th. C.A. Weis Elementary saw its rate fall from 51.9% in 2023 to 17.3% in 2024.
Escambia only has nine schools with a readiness rate 50% or higher:
- PINE MEADOW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- R. C. LIPSCOMB ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- HELLEN CARO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- KINGSFIELD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- MOLINO PARK ELEMENTARY
- CORDOVA PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- N. B. COOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- A. K. SUTER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- PENSACOLA BEACH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, INC
To get the district rate to 50%, we need 420 more preschoolers prepared for school.
The 2018 Achieve Escambia Community Report listed the KRAN members:
C.A. Weis Community School
Children’s Home Society
Community Action Program Committee, Inc.
Community Health of Northwest Florida
Department of Children and Family Services
Early Learning Coalition of Escambia County
Early Steps at Sacred Heart
Escambia County Healthy Start Coalition
Escambia County School District
Every Child a Reader Escambia
FamilesFirst Network
First Words Project
Gulf Power
Help Me Grow Florida
Pensacola State College
Sacred Heart and Studer Family Children’s Hospital
Studer Community Institute
The Arc Gateway, Inc.
United Way of Escambia County
University of West Florida
West Florida Public Library System