The County of Hawaiʻi County is inviting early childhood practitioners to a symposium to learn about the state’s new preschool initiative, “Ready Keiki,” from Lt. Governor Sylvia Luke on Saturday, April 22. The initiative is a public-private effort to ensure that all Hawaiʻi’s keiki will be ready for kindergarten and the future.
In addition to a session with the Lt. Governor, participants will hear from Dr. Lauren Padesky, Hawaiʻi’s DOE Early Learning Specialist, who will speak about a new Kindergarten Entrance Assessment (KEA), which includes a Kindergarten Assessment tool that will be administered to all students entering kindergarten this fall.
Directly related to this assessment is the information to be shared by the symposium’s third speaker, Sue Entz, who will talk about ways for providers of early childhood programs to better prepare keiki for the assessment.
The event, which will be held at the Courtyard by Marriott-King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel from 8:30 a.m. to 3 pm, is sponsored by the County of Hawaiʻi, the Baby STEPS team, and Friends of the Future.
Registration is $30 per person and includes breakfast and lunch. Parking is $5 for conference participants. To register, visit https://tinyurl.com/2p95kkpv. For questions, email Angela at angela.thomas@hawaiicounty.gov or Susan at future@fofhawaii.org.