Happy Holidays from Collaborate PASadena!
Growing Together PASadena launch
Pasadena one step closer to its 2025 goal of being an Early Learning City
On Friday, November 15 th, beginning at 3:30 pm, the park surrounding La Pintoresca Library was transformed into a festival of family fun and celebration, as parents and their kids, and people from the community, wrestled with giant foam Legos, learned to synchronize drum beats, and made glitter jars to practice mindfulness—all to usher in the grand opening of the new community-wide, child and family support network, Growing Together PASadena (GTP). The launch of GTP culminates several years of collaboration between parents, caregivers, service providers, and early childhood advocates to establish community resource centers for children and their families in order to receive individualized resources and referrals, parenting support, and opportunities for children to grow in the five key developmental areas, as defined by the Early Development Instrument (EDI)—physical health & well-being; emotional maturity; language & cognitive ability; social competence; general knowledge & communication. In addition to the dedicated efforts of the GTP members, a recent grant award to the Pasadena Public Library provided the necessary funding to establish seven brick and mortar hub sites, well-established in communities and already serving families with young children, that will now be official centers for providing the crucial tools and services for healthy early childhood development and school readiness. The seven hub sites offer the following services: parent and caregiver classes; family learning activities; community connection; local resources and information; referrals to service.
Colorful tables lined the park’s shady thoroughfare, representing GTP’s support agencies and organizations. Kids and families meandered through, asking questions, getting brochures, and at several tables, getting first-hand experience with activities that help develop the crucial EDI competencies. They were able to explore: lawn activities with giant Jenga and Lego pieces, in addition to the ever-popular Jumper (“physical health and well-being”); craft activities that encouraged kids to determine and discuss the physical properties of the craft materials—softness, hardness (“language and cognitive development”); a Prize Wheel that required thoughtful answers to questions (“general knowledge and communication”); and making glitter jars to practice mindfulness, accessing “emotional matu rity”. 
Numerous other tables offered fun and interesting activities, in addition to information about the many services available. In addition, event organizers provided 350 Subway sandwiches, which were handed out for free by student volunteers from the City’s Youth Ambassador Program. Live entertainment provided a background to the activities and tables. Bob Baker's Marionettes, and drum circle led by Norm Miller of Rhythm Child, regaled the audience with their unique performances and audience participation. A large photo booth was also set up for families and friends to mark the event with unique mementos.

The event was still going strong when, at 6:30, the event organizers had to close up the shop. GTPs grand opening is bringing Pasadena closer to its goal of being an Early Learning City by 2025
More information can be found at www.GrowingTogetherPASadena.org.
(Pictures courtesy of Office of the Young Child: www.facebook.com/pasadenaoyc/)
The Vision | The children of Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre all grow up in a safe, stable,
                        and supportive environment that prepares them for success in school and in life.
Improved Attendance Celebrations in our elementary school s
(McKinley School: Scott Phelps, Principal Nesbitt and Mayor Tornek with award recipients)
The Improved Attendance Celebration is a joint effort between PUSD CWAS and Collaborate PASAdena to provide community members, certificates, and refreshments in recognition ceremonies to honor those elementary students with the most improved attendance over the previous year.
Missing too much school during preschool, kindergarten, and first grade has long-term and costly impacts that lead to widening achievement gaps years later. In the PUSD district, of special concern are chronic absences among students in early grades: 11% of PUSD kindergartners missed the equivalent of 10% or more school days 2015-2016. “Especially in the younger grades, parents need to be wary of keeping kids home for ‘just a couple of days’ each month,” says Paul-Michael Dalton, who leads PUSD’s attendance initiatives and serves as chair of the district’s School Attendance Review Board (SARB). “You have to look at absences for the whole year,” he says, because “those couple of days each month add up to 18 absences - 18 lost days of classroom learning.”

Missing school also impacts funding for schools which effects hiring teachers, nurses, and creating academic programs. 
(Jackson Elementary: Geoff Albert, Eric Johnson, Mitch Aiken, Scott Phelps, handing out awards)
Longfellow Elementary: Back row, Paul-Michael Dalton, Geoff Albert, Scott Phelps, Mayor Tornek)
In recognizing the importance of attendance, our goal is to create positive learning environments where our children feel supported while building awareness of the importance of regular school attendance within the Pasadena community.

The awards ceremonies themselves are big celebrations, with parents notified ahead of time so they can make necessary arrangements to attend. Dignitaries from the City and School Board, such as Mayor Tornek and Council Member Mary McAustin, Board Members Scott Phelps and Elizabeth Pomeroy, and organizational leaders such as Erick Johnson with Stars, Mitch Aiken with Caltech, schedule time to individually shake hands with the honored students and parents, and take pictures afterwards. Coffee and treats are provided by Collaborate PASdena. These awards are a way of creating positive reinforcement for the students and parents that their community recognizes their efforts towards student success.
After an extensive, nationwide search, The Altadena Library District announced the selection of its new District Director, Nikki Winslow. Ms. Winslow has more than 14 years experience innovating library systems, in addition to her BA in Political Science and MA in Library Science. In her most recent post, she was the Assistant Director for the Glendale Library, Arts & Culture, where she oversaw Public Services for eight branches, Technical Services, and Library Information Services. Prior to her work in Glendale, she managed the Spring Valley Library of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District. In addition to her regular duties, she served as the Conference Chair for the Annual California Library Association Conference that took place in Pasadena this past October.  
This month marks the end of the first semester of Math Power Hour in six Pasadena elementary schools. The African-American Parent Council (AAPC) of Pasadena Unified School District created the Math Power Hour (MPH) in conjunction with PUSD, the United Teachers of Pasadena , Reading Partners , and Pacific Oaks College to address the fact that a large number of children struggle with the earliest basic foundations of math, starting in the first and second grades. Community volunteers spend at least one hour a week working with small groups of identified students, in consultation with their teachers, to work on building, strengthening and reinforcing their math skills. Studies have shown that math and early numeracy skills are the greatest predictors of educational and future career success. Because many students' math achievement potential is misidentified at an early age and never corrected, Math Power Hour targets both the student's establishment of a firm fundamental understanding of early math concepts and aims to foster confidence and a positive attitude towards learning math.

Next session will start up after winter break. If you have an hour or two to spare during the week, believe in equitable access to education for all students, and believe in the potential of PUSD students to thrive, please consider becoming a Math Power Hour volunteer .
New Community Health Needs Assessment Dashboard
Huntington Hospital and City of Pasadena Public Health Department have created an interactive and easily accessible DASHBOARD after conducting their triennial Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA). The dashboard assesses key areas of our city’s health system—mortality and morbidity, social factors, prevention strategies, and healthy aging, to name a few—and is automatically updated as new data comes in. Check it out and prepare to be amazed!
Volunteer Opportunity

News and Events

Click here to find the latest news and events on the Collaborate PASadena website! We happily post partner news and events on our site and on our Facebook page. Submit to  info@collpas.org.
Partner Praise

Chapcare is one of the seven hub sites of the Growing Together PASadena network and has been serving the communities of the San Gabriel Valley for over 20 years. They contract with a number of qualified health plans to provide primary healthcare services for those with health insurance. ChapCare also serves as the community safety net by providing comprehensive healthcare to low income and uninsured individuals and families.

Census 2020 is coming in mid May
Everyone counts - make sure you are counted
The census provides the basis for  reapportioning congressional seats , redistricting, and distributing more than $675 billion in federal funds annually to support states, counties and communities’ vital programs — impacting housing, education, transportation, employment, health care and public policy.
am-pluh-fahy
v. to make stronger; enlarge; extend