Webster Ready Start
2026-2027 Blueprint
The Webster Parish Early Childhood Ready Start Network serves 10 Early Learning Centers, 1 Family Child Care, 5 PK school sites, and 3 Head Start centers. As of October 1, 2025, we currently serve 475 students in these eligible seats. Webster Ready Start Network’s 2024-2025 CLASS score, which measures quality teacher-child interactions, averaged (5.29), which remains in the high proficient range. Our Emotional Support, Classroom Organization, and Emotional and Behavioral Support CLASS scores are in the High Proficient/Excellent range for all site types, while our Instructional Support and Engaged Support for Learning CLASS scores fall in the Approaching Proficient/Proficient range for each site type for 2024-2025. This indicates a need for additional professional development in these two areas. Another factor is the workforce turnover in these programs.
In the Spring of 2020, we became a part of the Cohort 3 Ready Start Network initiative. We have formed our Ready Start Network Advisory Council who works collaboratively to execute a bold local vision to improve opportunities and inspire change for children birth to age five. Council members focus on improving the quality, accessibility, and affordability of early childhood services throughout our network. The LDOE Birth to 3 seats initiative awarded Webster Ready Start these tuition free, high quality childcare seats to 48 families in our community (2022-23), increased to 61 CCAP B3 seats for 2023-24 and due to a reduction in funding, we were able to provide 53 CCAP B3 seats to Webster Parish families in 2024-2025. During that same year, through local fundraising and the state match of the Early Childhood Education Fund, an additional toddler seat was provided tuition-free to a qualifying family. In July 2025, the CCAP B3 funding continued to decrease and currently 24 children are enrolled in an early childhood program through this funding. Webster Ready Start Network was able to secure local donations and state match ECE funds in order to fund additional seats. (See graph for performance data)
Louisiana is ranked 8th in the country for its early childhood education policies. Even with this achievement, there continues to be significant access and quality challenges. Webster Ready Start Network builds on Louisiana’s success by bringing our local community members together to create, implement, and support early childhood to address challenges. We are committed to creating and implementing a bold local vision for our early childhood network. Driven by local data and context, Webster Ready Start Network will continue to do this in three key ways: create a specific plan for our network, develop an advisory council and governing board made up of community stakeholders, and secure resources to improve opportunities and inspire change for our Webster Parish birth to age five children.
Webster Ready Start Goals
Goal 1
Increase Birth-3 seats by 5% per year by 2026-2027 to insure families have access to affordable, high-quality early childhood care and education in Webster Parish.
Goal 2
Increase the overall CLASS average by 0.05 points by the 2025-2026 performance profile release in the fall of 2026.
Goal 3
Increase community awareness of the Webster Ready Start Network early childhood programs and their opportunities for child development by 2026-2027.
Goal 4
Equip and empower families to boost their children’s early brain and vocabulary development by providing current research findings, books, educational materials, and hands-on opportunities to improve their children's kindergarten readiness by 2026.
Strategic Plan
Please select the purple plus circles in each section to learn more about each goal.
Goal 1:
● Use fundraising from local efforts to increase capacity of locally funded ECE seats.
● If funding available, request coordinated funding for B3 seats at early learning centers in the network
● Increase awareness of early learning centers in the Webster Network
● Provide more opportunities for parents to become knowledgeable of Webster Early Childhood Ready Start Network
- Promote Webster Ready Start Network website
- Host parent awareness meetings to provide information about our coordinated enrollment
- Use the WRSN WEE PLAY MOBILE at community events to educate parents and community stakeholders about the importance of PLAY and Early Childhood programs.
- Extend enrollment period & increase access to our coordinated enrollment events
- CCAP B3 seats initiative-24 seats currently filled- tuition free to eligible families
- One seat was funded through ECEF for 2024-25 and we reached our goal to fund three seats for 2025-26.
- Continue to reach Webster Parish community stakeholders to donate to local fundraising (and using state matched funds) to provide B3 seats at our 10 Early Learning Centers.
- Local funds to support additional Birth-3 seats, which include support for certified personnel, Tier I curriculum, and professional development for teachers
- Data from LDOE on unserved children in Webster Parish
- Due to lack of funding for these seats, we are seeing a decline in the current enrollment at our Early Learning Centers.
Goal 2:
● Professional Development on curriculum provided by vendors
● Local job embedded coaching
● Professional Development on Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) through MMCI classes focusing on Instructional Support and Engaged Support for Learning ● Secure materials and resources needed through grant funds to help teachers and staff promote high quality experiences for the children
● Ensure materials are utilized and accessible to students in classrooms
- Implement high quality Tier 1 curriculum
- Maintain a strong working relationship with NSU Child Care Resource & Referral Agency for training and coaching needs.
- Use existing financial support through early childhood grants and Title I funds to support quality professional development and training of teachers and administrators in the Network.
■ Making the Most of Classroom Interactions (MMCI)
Infant, Toddler & PreK (instructors from NSU Child and Family Network)
■ CLASS Observer Reliability training (directors enrolling in Infant/Toddler 2nd Edition)
■ WRSN conducts CLASS clusters each month to collaborate with teachers and use strategies to increase CLASS scores in Instructional Support.
- Provide continued buy-in from program partners to provide high quality professional learning opportunities to staff
- Analyze overall performance profile data to address current performance profile needs of Webster Ready Start Network.
- As teachers retire and staff changes at all program partner sites, Instructional Support (PK Domain) and Engaged Support for Learning (Infant/Toddler Domain) scores are showing a decline indicating that more Professional Development to target these specific areas is needed.
Goal 3:
● Promote Webster Ready Start website to develop and implement marketing strategies
● Collaborate with WRSN Advisory Council
● Utilize social media for Coordinated Enrollment, outreach, community involvement and branding the Webster Ready Start Network
- Modified annual coordinated enrollment efforts with program partners
- Implemented a new digital plan to launch Online Registration
- Utilized Ready Start Network funds to hire a web designer to create and maintain a webpage for the network
- Formed an Advisory Council that meets quarterly (more frequently as needed) and actively participates in network events
- Increased community support through local partnerships with Webster Parish Libraries
- Distributed brochures to business partners & community members
- Shared WRSN video with Chamber of Commerce and local community leaders
- December 2023- Capital Campaign with KTBS Marketing to raise local funding for B3 seats tuitions for eligible families (funds will be matched 100% by LDOE)
- Shared this publication with past donors and to recruit new donors
- Developed a publication Why Donate? Giving is as Easy as 1.2.3 to share with prospective donors- levels of donations such as: Childhood Champion, Impact Investor, Future Funder, Pathway Paver and Community Contributor to be collected by January 30, 2025. Will continue to utilize these materials for January 30, 2026 donation deadline.
- Participated in Webster Parish community events such as Trunk or Treat, Christmas in Minden, Maker’s Fair, etc. The WEE PLAY Mobile- a portable hands-on STEM activity center is available for kids and adults to interact and learn the importance of PLAY! Scholarship donors’ names and /or logos are posted on large blocks displayed.
- Promoted literacy with providing families with children’s books in order to encourage literacy in every home.
- Provided valuable information concerning the dangers of “screen time”
- Advisory Council members to share the importance of increasing access to B-3 seats through local funds/state match
- Recruit donors throughout all of Webster Parish so we can provide more B-3 seats.
Goal 4:
● Partner with Webster Parish libraries to plan & host family engagement activities
● Participate in WEE READ “1000 books by Kindergarten” initiative- provide WEE READ tote bag and book
● Host multiple Family Engagement activities at various locations to promote the importance of early literacy, such as Trunk or Treat events, Christmas Activities, Spring events where books are provided to each family.
● Implement an ASQ family event to offer information and guidance on the Developmental Screener tool.
- Family engagement events/ partnership with Webster Parish libraries
- Funding from Ready Start ASQ training for all program partners
- Born to Read bags delivered to Minden Medical Center for all new moms to receive after child’s birth
- Constructed a mobile children’s museum (WEE PLAY MOBILE) to actively involve families in developmentally appropriate play and STEM activities. At home activities and ideas are shared.
- Outreach to local pediatricians and medical facilities to assist in forming parental connections for early screening opportunities and proper/accurate interventions if needed.
- Promote literacy and dangers of screen time
- Plan a Coordinated Enrollment event in the city park for Spring 2026 for families to have easy access to all Early Childhood programs.