EPEL spent 2021 listening, learning, and bringing action! We never tire of hearing from families and partners what they need and how the community can support children in becoming prepared for Kindergarten. Much of our work is behind the scenes at the state, making sure our communities are heard and bringing that work back to the local level. Our communities' collective responsibility is to build strong systems and support families of our youngest learners.
Two hundred million dollars is being invested in Illinois to transform the early childhood system. EPEL is at the table to advocate for local investment and help lead the work with community partners. Our early childhood communities will be part of this transformation in 2022!
I hope families in our community can count on you to add early childhood to your agenda when discussing priorities for your organization. You might be saying, but I don't serve families. Do you have employees? You serve families. Do families come to your place of business? You serve families. Do you work with a parent of a child 0-5 years of age or live beside one? You support families! Together We Can!
Can you imagine the lasting impact that we could collectively make for our youngest learners and their outcomes if every organization in the eleven communities in U-46 boundaries sets a goal to support families and children? 2022 will be time for EPEL to continue to build a robust and equitable system with our partners for children and families. Join EPEL in flipping the oven to HIGH BROIL for children and start cooking something significant to support our youngest learners in 2022.
I hope the holiday allows you time to rest, reflect and renew your commitments for 2022! Join me in celebrating some of EPEL's successes this year, as we couldn't have done it alone. Happy Holidays to you and yours!
Together We Can,
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Amber Peters
Executive Director
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Four Bilingual StoryWalks were designed from multicultural books that offer movement and learning.
The stories have already been shared for ten events this fall and can be checked out through EPEL for your upcoming events to be used inside or out.
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LEARNING LAUNDROMATS GROWING |
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EPEL added a third early learning laundromat to the family in 2021.
Welcome Everything Clean Laundromat, 145 S. Randall Rd. Elgin. Children can learn while parents are doing everyday chores. Use these wait times as Give Me Five opportunities to "Talk, Play, Read, Do and Write" with your child. Read books, check out manipulatives at the front desk or walk around the laundromat and discover letters, colors, shapes, sounds, etc. Keep an eye on social media to see when partners are there to read and engage children. Other locations: Blue Kangaroo, Summit St. and JetXpress, Dundee Avenue
We are looking for laundromats in Hanover Park and Streamwood if you have connections in the community.
Contact Amber Peters amberpeters@elginpartnership.org
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EPEL LED COMMUNITY PLANNING GROUP TO INCREASE CHILD CARE SLOTS |
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EPEL led a group of dedicated community members that consisted of parents, grandparents, early care educators, administrators, government officials, and community stakeholders to discuss and plan for the future of our birth to five children. Over the past 20 years, data collected by Illinois Early Childhood Asset Map
(IECAM) has consistently shown high unmet needs for ECCE (Early Childhood Care and Education) in specific communities. The eleven communities in School District U-46 boundaries are part of this early care shortage. This gap in services refers to the shortage of early learning slots compared to the number of eligible children in the community. The project was designed to plan, expand access and develop new high-quality slots. These partners spent a year discussing and planning to ensure children have equitable access to high-quality ECCE in a mixed delivery system (home visiting, Head Start, Preschool For All and Preschool Expansion) for children birth to five to have the programs they need. We have identified three organizations that will write for additional high-quality slots when this grant is available in 2022. This process was another step in strengthening and aligning the system to lay the foundation for a high-quality and efficient system responsive to families’ needs.
We are also building a strong teacher pipeline to get more students into the teaching profession while adding additional slots. EPEL and Alignment Collaborative for Education are working together on this pipeline in 2022.
To learn more about the IECAM (Illinois Early Care Asset Map) community data click below and click School District.
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2022 Getting Ready for Kindergarten Calendar
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The 2021 Family Activities calendar is closing out the year and the new 2022 version will arrive the first week of January. EPEL looks forward to getting them into the hands of partners and families.
Stay tuned for locations to pick up one for your family or click the link below to order your FREE copy because of our kind sponsors.

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EPEL PARTNERING WITH
THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
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EPEL was chosen to partner with the University of Illinois to learn more about the successes and challenges our communities experience within the landscape of early childhood programming. EPEL is excited to be one of two in the state that the University is interested in learning more about our communities. EPEL has started meeting with the professor and the doctoral students conducting the study. We will be contacting partners and families in the new year for conversations.
We look forward to a comprehensive data package that will continue to help us learn, strengthen, and move the early childhood system forward in our community.
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EPEL TURNED "10 YEARS OLD" |
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EPEL rebranded to better represent their role in the community by keeping children and families at the center of the work while being supported by three systems of education, family support, and health so all children will be happy and healthy and ready for Kindergarten. |
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Parents, grandparents, and caregivers participate with their children.
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EPEL meets families where they are in five neighborhoods with community partners every week during the summer.
EPEL and partners served 844 families to build relationships, trust, and early learning skills. Families received new bilingual books, early learning materials, and resources to extend learning into the home.
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EPEL Published First Annual Report |
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EPEL published its first Annual Report in 2021. To learn more, click the report.
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EPEL Partners with Community Organizations to Make an Impact |
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EPEL partnered with School District U-46 to offer all community-based and family care child care providers vaccinations to keep educators, children, and families safe. Thank you U-46 for including our birth to five early care providers. |
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EPEL and partners loaded the Gail Borden Public Library vans with materials for over 250 families to distribute at
Uniting for the Holidays mobile food pantry at Elgin Community College. Thank you United Way Metro Chicago, Northern Illinois Food Bank and Seigle Family Foundation for making this possible for families.
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Santa and partners from YWCA Elgin, U-46, GBPL and St. Paul's United Church of Christ talked to families to share information about getting enrolled into early child care programs, distributed bilingual books, diapers and early learning materials to over 250 families at the Uniting for Holidays mobile
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Elgin Partnership for Early Learning (EPEL)
847-452-2457
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