Agenda for Children

Because of the ongoing impacts of the winter storm, Agenda for Children's physical offices at 8300 Earhart Boulevard will remain closed tomorrow, Wednesday, January 22. However, staff will be working remotely and can be reached via phone and e-mail. We will continue to monitor the situation as conditions settle and provide updates as needed. Please stay safe!

Agenda offices will be closed Tuesday, January 21, 2025 due to the forecasted ice and snow. We are closely monitoring weather conditions in our area. We encourage you to follow winter weather preparedness recommendations. Please stay safe!

On Tuesday, we hosted a very special celebration honoring our Assistant Director of Program Quality & Improvement, Elizabeth “Luz” Kief, who is retiring after nearly 12 years with Agenda.  Luz originally started with us as our Associate Director of Early Care & Education but over the years, has served officially in seven different roles. However, unofficially, she’s worn many more hats - indeed, a colleague once joked she needed the badge “Utility Player” because of her remarkable ability to step in whenever and however needed. Our team shared stories about her warmth, her encyclopedic knowledge of all things CLASS, and her intense focus in centering our work on the needs of children.  Of herself, Luz said, “One of the most important roles I have had is being a cheerleader.  Children need someone rooting for them. Educators need someone rooting for them, and our team does too.” Luz is looking forward to taking a few months off to decompress but she won’t stay still for long.  She is planning some travel but after that is applying to field school for archeology. Luz, we will miss you and we can’t wait to hear all about your next adventures!

Our offices will be closed on Monday, January 20th in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. We will reopen for normal hours of business on Tuesday, January 21st.

On this #ThankfulThursday, we have to extend a BIG Thank You to the Madere Family of Madere & Sons Towing LLC/Deep South Companies for their ongoing support of early childhood education through the School Readiness Tax Credit (SRTC) program. You can learn more about how SRTCs are a win for Louisiana businesses and a win for children by going to: https://bit.ly/3zdGudE

Do you know someone in the New Orleans area who is seeking child care? Tell them about this free event! This weekend, New Orleans Public Schools will be hosting an enrollment event for families to learn more about early care and education options in New Orleans. Families will also learn about the NCAP application and be able to receive on-the-spot assistance in applying. Date: Saturday, January 18 Time: 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM Location: McDonogh 35 Gymnasium Address: 4000 Cadillac Street, New Orleans, LA 70122

Hey Early Educators are you curious to learn what STEAM is all about and how to use it in your classroom? Join us in New Orleans on February 5th for a hands-on workshop that explores science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) skills while working with young children. Open to all Type III educators and FCCS within our service region! Register today at: https://bit.ly/4bUmDhf

Thank you to Hartwig Moss Insurance Agency for your ongoing support through the School Readiness Tax Credit program. We deeply appreciate your commitment to helping us provide access to high quality early care and education for our state's youngest learners.

For the last two days, we have been hosting a Toddler CLASS® Observer Training. The Louisiana Department of Education uses Teachstone’s Classroom Assessment Scoring System® (CLASS) to assess program quality. CLASS looks at teaching quality through the lens of educator-child interactions which are important for children’s outcomes. 2024’s Early Childhood Performance Profiles show continued improvement from previous years with more than 95% of sites earning a rating of Proficient or higher. These data reflect results from nearly 14,000 local observations in more than 7,000 classrooms across Louisiana! This training not only is invaluable to early educators who want to become trained observers but also as they work to enhance teaching quality within their own programs.

Happy Carnival! We’re parading our workshops across the region and coming to a space near you! Join us for one of the Centers, Culture, & Carnival workshops in January and learn how to bring fun and meaningful activities into your classroom centers. Open to all Type III educators and FCCS within our service region! Registration for these and other workshops can be found at: https://bit.ly/4bUmDhf