Early Childhood
We know that equitable access to early childhood programs and services is a key factor that leads to thriving families, thriving programs and a thriving community — making Chattanooga-Hamilton County the best place in the nation for a child to be born and raised. Advancing opportunity in early learning means recognizing the important two-generational role of the early childhood system (parents/caregivers and children) and building an aligned system that mitigates the barriers that have historically prevented children from reaching their full potential
WE ENVISION A COORDINATED AND ALIGNED
EARLY CHILDHOOD SYSTEM
BRIGHT START TN
Explore the Early Matters 2025 Early Childhood Action plan that outlines gaps in our county’s early childhood systems, paired with promising evidence-based strategies that, together, comprise our community’s “recipe for success” for young children.
Quality Matters Fund
The Quality Matters Fund, managed by Chatt 2.0 and overseen by Early Matters members, was established to increase access to quality early learning seats in Hamilton County. Past grants have benefited child care teacher retention and child care agency capital improvements.
Kindergarten Success
We have aligned community partners around a common definition of Kindergarten Readiness. Explore the new K-Ready campaign for Hamilton County including resources and activities designed to build skills for success in Kindergarten and lifelong learning.
WE AIM TO Remove barriers that impede child development by increasing equitable access to quality early childhood care and education services, with the ultimate vision of thriving families, thriving programs, and a thriving community. Here's how WE PLAN TO DO THAT...
We lead Early Matters, a coalition of early childhood stakeholders working together to create a coordinated and aligned early childhood system through landscape assessments, gap identification and analysis, and support of the Early Childhood Action plan strategies.
We impact policy that supports a strong foundation of early childhood development for all children through research and advocacy, including the identification of funding gaps and creation of strategic public financing solutions to benefit the early childhood sector.
We support and empower local caregivers through pilot programs and increase awareness and action on the importance of early brain development as a precursor to Kindergarten readiness and future grade-level math and literacy proficiency.
We identify, source funding, and in some cases manage evidence-based strategies to bolster early childhood health, learning, and family support access in targeted geographies to evaluate what works in our varying local contexts.
