Great by 8 is committed to ensuring that all children in West Hartford are successful in school, and physically and emotionally healthy by age 8. To help ensure that young children are successful in school, we are collaborating with schools and community organizations to enroll all children in high-quality preschool. In particular, we are focused on families who live in poverty, since those childr
en are less likely to attend preschool. We are also focused on improving children's social-emotional development; we hold workshops for teachers and families, and are funding some preschools to implement the RULER approach, created by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. Great by 8 serves as West Hartford's School Readiness Council. In this capacity, Great by 8 is responsible for deciding how to allocate state-funded preschool slots for low-income families. Great by 8 is funded by a grant from the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund as a Discovery collaborative, and as such, is comprised of parents, teachers, public school administrators, private program directors, and other community leaders committed to ensuring school success for all students. All members of the community are welcome to attend meetings and participate in discussions.
