STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Learn about the shortage of early education opportunities for young children in the Wood River Valley on Monday.

The Wood River Early Learning Collaborative will reveal the results of a needs assessment that was recently undertaken at 4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 6, via Zoom. Panelists are:

• Kathryn Ivers, Wood River Valley Collaborative Contracted project lead
• Jim Foudy, Blaine County School District, Superintendent
• Janet Salvoni, Sun Valley Community School, Head of Elementary
• Laura Rose-Lewis, I Have a Dream Foundation Idaho, Executive Director
• Martin Balben, Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children, Project Director
• Heather Lee, Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children, Assistant Director

The Zoom link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84096678001?pwd=ZUJ1ZDNULzVZMENKRzBIcTEyREpxdz09. The Meeting ID is 840 9667 8001.  Passcode is 260316.

According to the needs assessment, there are massive waitlists for children’s programs in the Wood River Valley. And, when there is access, most families cannot afford the true cost. There’s a lack of off-hours care options and low wages for childcare providers contributes to the crisis.

The assessment also found that 85 percent of providers would grow their programs if they had a larger facility and that 70 percent of stay-at-home parents would return to work if quality affordable childcare was available.

More than half of the children between the ages of 0 and 5 in the area are currently in informal care settings.

“The results of the needs assessment are concerning,” said Sarah Seppa, director of Community Engagement and manager of the Center for Community Health at St. Luke’s Wood River. Seppa is one of several members on the Wood River Early Learning Advisory Council, which created from various key stakeholder groups including the Blaine County School District, childcare centers, teachers, families, health care professionals, businesses, nonprofits and leaders in the Hispanic community.

The Wood River Early Learning Collaborative was formed in 2022 when the Wood River Women’s Foundation awarded its first-ever Focus Grant to “close the opportunity gap in education” to the Idaho Association for the Education of Young Children. The Boise-based Idaho AEYC works across the state of Idaho, using a collaborative model to bring together essential stakeholders who want to see high-quality learning opportunities for families in the WRV

The Wood River Early Learning Collaborative hopes to develop a plan to address the needs of the birth through 5-year-old population, their families and early childhood educators in the Wood River Valley.