What Does Buffalo Need to Support Its Next Generation?

So right now in the city of Buffalo, only fifty-one percent of students finish kindergarten hitting the developmental milestones.

And actually recently, a report was released stating that there's only twenty-two thousand licensed childcare slots available, but there's over fifty thousand kids in Erie County under the age of five in need of care, leaving such a significant gap.

And as we know, you know, fundamentally so much happens in development between the ages of zero to five.

And if, especially with what's going on in the school systems now, the- if they are going to school unprepared, not reading on track, it's just going to get harder and harder for them as they continue to move up a grade level if they still don't know, you know, their ABCs or, you know, their letters or their numbers or anything like that.

I mean, I've had a conversation actually with a teacher and, you know, they're gonna s- schools and there's been conversations about implementing like remedial classes in between to cover that gap too, because it is a problem that they're seeing across the board in all grades.

So and, and you jump back because you started us off with a, with a key number there.

I think you said fifty-one percent of, and they were lacking in, what was the term you used again?

Um, their developmental milestones, hitting those on track at the end of kindergarten.

And what would those be?

Identifying, you know, their name at the time, how to spell it, how to read, identify letters, shapes, tracing.

Really at that time, they should be knowing how to add, how to multi- mm, not multiply, kind of get into that, subtract.

Just the essentials and also the social emotional awareness.

You know, how do you walk into a classroom? How do you interact at that, you know, at this age? You know, the hitting and stuff like that should have, you know, significantly decreased in the biting and stuff like that.

You know, that's really what you see in like the two to four range.

But really by that, by the eight to five going into, you know, being a six-year-old, you know, they should know a lot of their basic fundamental skills.

Um, and yet you're saying maybe nearly half-

Yeah

... don't.

Um, which is a, an astonishing number for sure.

So let's talk about the Agnes Youth and Family Center, because now so there's in essence we're, we're, we're kind of looking at two-part element here.

The, the education part, but just like you said, the, the childcare.

There's-

Yeah

... a huge crushing need for just young childcare as well.

So your center proposes or is established or getting established to deal with both issues.

So right now in the city of Buffalo, only fifty-one percent of students finish kindergarten hitting the developmental milestones.

And actually recently, a report was released stating that there's only twenty-two thousand licensed childcare slots available, but there's over fifty thousand kids in Erie County under the age of five in need of care, leaving such a significant gap.

And as we know, you know, fundamentally so much happens in development between the ages of zero to five.

And if, especially with what's going on in the school systems now, the- if they are going to school unprepared, not reading on track, it's just going to get harder and harder for them as they continue to move up a grade level if they still don't know, you know, their ABCs or, you know, their letters or their numbers or anything like that.

I mean, I've had a conversation actually with a teacher and, you know, they're gonna s- schools and there's been conversations about implementing like remedial classes in between to cover that gap too, because it is a problem that they're seeing across the board in all grades.

So and, and you jump back because you started us off with a, with a key number there.

I think you said fifty-one percent of, and they were lacking in, what was the term you used again?

Um, their developmental milestones, hitting those on track at the end of kindergarten.

And what would those be?

Identifying, you know, their name at the time, how to spell it, how to read, identify letters, shapes, tracing.

Really at that time, they should be knowing how to add, how to multi- mm, not multiply, kind of get into that, subtract.

Just the essentials and also the social emotional awareness.

You know, how do you walk into a classroom? How do you interact at that, you know, at this age? You know, the hitting and stuff like that should have, you know, significantly decreased in the biting and stuff like that.

You know, that's really what you see in like the two to four range.

But really by that, by the eight to five going into, you know, being a six-year-old, you know, they should know a lot of their basic fundamental skills.

Um, and yet you're saying maybe nearly half-

Yeah

... don't.

Um, which is a, an astonishing number for sure.

So let's talk about the Agnes Youth and Family Center, because now so there's in essence we're, we're, we're kind of looking at two-part element here.

The, the education part, but just like you said, the, the childcare.

There's-

Yeah

... a huge crushing need for just young childcare as well.

So your center proposes or is established or getting established to deal with both issues.