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1. What is Ready by 5?

Norfolk Ready By 5, in partnership with Norfolk Public Schools, local public and private agencies and health, wellness and faith communities, is working to provide opportunities that support young children’s healthy development and school readiness, and raising public awareness on the issues surrounding the need for high quality early care and education for all children in our city.

2. How long has it been around?

Ready by 5 was launched in 2011 through the Early Learning Challenge Grant awarded by Smart Beginnings of South Hampton Roads to create system-wide changes throughout the City of Norfolk focused solely on school readiness of all children from birth. It is overseen by the Early Learning Advisory Board as appointed by the Norfolk City Council.

3. Why is school readiness important?

When a child thrives in their earliest years, they are ready and poised for success forever! Learning begins at birth, and in the first five years of life, the human brain develops at a faster pace than any other time. That growth depends on nurturing caregivers and is the foundation for all the learning and development that follows.

4. What happens when children aren’t ready to start school?

Often, when children are not prepared, they begin school with a deficit in abilities - cognitive, social/ emotional, and physical - leading to a wide range of problems that are significantly more difficult and exponentially more expensive to address later. The experiences and interactions that take place between birth and school will greatly determine their success.

5. What is the City doing to help?

The City of Norfolk, through this investment in initiatives, is focusing on the promotion of high quality early development and education, parent and caretaker education. The City is also helping early care providers develop best practices in promoting a lifelong love of learning in children as a civic priority, nurturing our future workforce.

6. What is the Quality Rating Improvement System?

Virginia, along with more than half of the states in the U.S., has designed a system to evaluate and improve the quality of early care and education programs. The system is called the Virginia Star Quality Initiative (VSQI) and locally, this is called QRIS (Quality Rating Improvement System) and is a state-wide, voluntary quality assessment and improvement project for child care centers and home providers. It is administered jointly by the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and the Office of Early Childhood Development.
Quality Rating Improvement System details