In the first years of life, a child's brain develops at a faster pace than during any other time. That growth depends on nurturing care-giving, from parents and others, as well as enriching, stimulating opportunities to grow and learn. Early experiences shape the actual architecture of the brain, forming a foundation for all the learning and development that follows. Thrive in 5’s mission is to en
sure that children of all races, ethnicities, incomes, abilities, and languages have the opportunities and support they need for success in school and beyond. As a public-private partnership between the City of Boston and United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, Thrive in 5 supports three strategies that combine to form a multi-faceted approach to achieving our mission. Boston Children Thrive (BCT), Thrive in 5's signature place-based initiative, is mobilizing entire communities to empower their families with the skills knowledge, confidence and well-being they need to be leaders in their children’s healthy development. Thrive in 5's School Readiness Pipeline, is a ground-breaking effort to build a citywide, universal screening system to measure children’s development across the early years and at kindergarten entry. Thrive in 5's Ready Educators strategy, is a citywide effort to help Boston's formal early care and education programs move to the highest quality, using child outcomes to drive program improvement.
