The Little Rams Early Childhood Project is a partnership of schools, child care programs, educators, parents, businesses, local organizations and leaders. This collaboration is prioritizing the youngest Gorham children, from birth through age five, with a focus on early learning, nurturing care and healthy development.
This collaboration was formed in the summer of 2021 with the initial planning assistance of the MDOE and our facilitator Tara Williams, Executive Director of Maine AEYC. The committee is strategically structured to ensure appropriate voices from multiple stakeholders in the community of Gorham to include current early care providers, school representatives, parents, business and community representatives.
This year-long venture involves monthly meetings of a large stakeholder group with the purpose of ensuring that all children and families have access to high quality learning experiences that promote healthy development and school/ community readiness.
In their first two meetings, the group began to identify perceived strengths and challenges in our current early care systems and to analyze data from our community, the state and our region, regarding early childhood programming.
They looked at numbers of care providers, obstacles of access and transportation, as well as issues of salaries for child care providers and costs for families. All of these efforts help inform the planning and visioning processes.
Ultimately the goal of this work will be to create a vision for early childhood programs in Gorham. This committee will develop a written childhood vision report that includes an assessment of current community assets, gaps in family services and approximate timelines for implementation of a comprehensive plan.