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Address:
890 Hendersonville Rd
Asheville, NC 28803
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890 Hendersonville Rd
Asheville, NC 28803
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We believe education begins at birth and lasts throughout life. Education can be a key to unleash the potential of opportunity for everyone, especially for those whose communities have been marginalized. Therefore, education should be equitable, excellent in its delivery and accessible to all regardless of place, gender, ability, income or ethnicity.
Care and Learning (CandL) Data on Early Care and Education
Equitable, high-quality early care and education start children on a solid path to becoming lifelong learners, leading to healthier lives as engaged, fulfilled adults. However, too many WNC families cannot access affordable care, a circumstance made more challenging by a shortage of teachers and the barriers they experience entering or remaining in the field.
Dogwood Health Trust is investing in early childhood education to ensure our region has the resources and sustainability to provide developmentally appropriate, affordable and accessible care and education so that all children in WNC enter kindergarten ready to learn.
In its latest commissioned study, Dogwood partnered with NC Child’s Care and Learning Initiative (CandL) to extend a statewide listening tour into 13 WNC counties and hear first-hand the concerns and needs of parents, caregivers and child care providers in those counties.
During the webinar, presenters shared their findings and offered a high-level analysis in addition to answering questions.
Presenters
- Elizabeth Byrum, Senior Policy Analyst for Early Childhood Education, NC Child
- Laura Bayzle, Partner, The Link Group
- Devonya Govan-Hunt, President, Black Child Development Institute – Charlotte
- Muffy Grant, Executive Director, NC Early Childhood Foundation
- Alicia Fordham, Advocacy Specialist, Children First/Communities in Schools of Buncombe County
The CandL coalition seeks to model language justice and will offer simultaneous Spanish translation during this webinar.
WNC After 3pm Initiative RFP
To make out-of-school-time experiences more accessible and meet the needs of the youth and families in our communities, Dogwood launched the WNC After 3pm initiative. Alongside a landscape analysis of our region’s out-of-school time, Dogwood requested proposals from nonprofit organizations, government agencies, education institutions and others who serve the Qualla Boundary and our 18-county service region in Western North Carolina and wanted to expand out-of-school-time programming. The RFP closed on July 24, 2023. Award notifications will be made in November 2023, and funds will be distributed in December 2023.
Education Grant Activity 2023
Cycle 1
1/3/23 – 7/5/23
Dogwood’s Education Team will work with pending applicants to strengthen proposals in process, and invites new inquiries for funding, that are strategically aligned with its goals and objectives for Early Childhood Education (ECE) or K12 Education. Strong ECE proposals will equitably address early childhood educator workforce recruitment, retention, and attrition. Strong K12 proposals will focus on eliminating gaps in achievement and improving outcomes for the most underserved students, specifically students with disabilities, students of color, students in our lowest-wealth communities, and students who are English language learners.
Cycle 2
4/3/23 – 10/20/23
Dogwood’s Education Team will work with pending applicants to strengthen proposals in process, and invites new inquiries for funding, that are strategically aligned with its goals and objectives for Early Childhood Education (ECE) or K12 Education. Strong ECE proposals will equitably address early childhood educator workforce recruitment, retention, and attrition. Strong K12 proposals will focus on eliminating gaps in achievement and improving outcomes for the most underserved students, specifically students with disabilities, students of color, students in our lowest-wealth communities, and students who are English language learners.
Cycle 1
1/3/23 – 7/5/23
Cycle 2
4/3/23 – 10/20/23
This application opportunity closed July 24.
In response to an internal review of qualitative and quantitative data collected regarding western North Carolina’s regional Career and Technical Education needs, Dogwood’s Education and Economic Opportunity Teams will open an invite-only funding opportunity for traditional Public School Units within Dogwood Health Trust’s 18-county footprint, and the region 7 and 8 CTE directors.
Strong proposals will look to increase western North Carolina students’ attainment of a high-quality industry-recognized certification or credential, ensuring that students graduate from high school globally competitive for work and or postsecondary education.
Listen to Dogwood’s own Dr. Ereka Williams as she talks with Dr. Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher, University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Lorenzo Baber, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Dr. Heather Shotton, Fort Lewis College, regarding Moving Beyond Diversity Toward Racial Equity in Pathways on the REACH Collaborative’s podcast.
Equitable, high quality early care and more productive, fulfilled, education starts children on a solid path to become lifelong learners, leading to healthier lives as engaged, fulfilled adults. However, too many WNC families cannot access affordable care – a circumstance made more challenging by a shortage of teachers and the barriers they experience entering or remaining in the field. In 2022, Dogwood completed research on the early care and education (ECE) landscape capturing those issues for our region. In 2023, Dogwood launches a multi-year effort with partners focused on growing and sustaining the ECE workforce for WNC communities.
During the K12 years, what happens outside of the classroom can have a huge influence on a student’s overall learning and development. Dogwood’s 2022 commissioned report on the K12 landscape of our region found that students with disabilities, students of color, specifically African American students, students who are English language learners, and students in our lowest wealth communities had less access and success in our K12 classrooms across DHT communities. Disproportionate access to accelerated coursework, absenteeism, suspension and expulsion, and dropout rates point to challenges our community and schools must address and resolve together. One in 5 students in our region is chronically absent. If we are committed to eliminating gaps in achievement, retention, and graduation rates for the most underserved among us, then exploring the root causes, sound interventions, and responsive supports for these issues in service to our K12 learners is critical for all districts across WNC.
Within our overarching Goals and Objectives (see below) our 2023 Education focus areas and activities include:
- Implementing the first Early Care and Education (ECE) Equity cohort with the Frank Porter Graham Equity Academy, working with the 2022 Workforce RFP Awardees on their innovative and responsive approaches to recruiting and retaining professionals for the ECE workforce across WNC.
- Initiate the WNC After 3PM Effort with inventory of afterschool, weekend, and summer opportunities that support our K12 youth across the region, and determine our best path forward for building on the abilities of community partners across the region to collaborate, align and deepen out-of-school opportunities.
More details about 2023 grant opportunities will be coming soon. Please join our mailing list for updates or check this webpage.
Comprehensive Studies of WNC’s Early Care & Education Landscape
A Landscape Analysis of K12 Education Outcomes in Western North Carolina
Education Goals & Objectives
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Partner Highlights
WRESA
STEM West, Inc.
WNCSource
Smart Start Regional Cohort
St. Gerard House
Youth Transformed for Life
