When we talk about improving student achievement, the focus often lands on what happens inside schools: test scores, curriculum, and staffing. But the foundation for success is built long before a student enters a classroom. Whether a child starts school ready to learn is one of the clearest measures we have of a community’s priorities.
In Northern Kentucky, just over half of students meet the benchmark for kindergarten readiness. In the River City communities, like Covington and Newport, barely a third do. These numbers aren’t just statistics; they are a mirror held up to our community reflecting the truth about whether we are living up to our shared belief that every child deserves the opportunity to succeed.
At EducateNKY, our work centers on changing that reality. Guided by the Start Strong pillar of our strategic plan, we are committed to ensuring that every child enters kindergarten ready to learn, grow, and thrive. We believe kindergarten readiness is more than a school metric, it’s a community-wide standard of educational excellence and opportunity. That’s why we are investing in place-based early learning strategies in the River Cities, building partnerships with families, schools, and civic leaders, and aligning resources around approaches proven to make a difference.
Kindergarten readiness is, by definition, about what happens before kindergarten. Most children aren’t yet in school from birth to age five, and research shows that more than 90% of brain development happens in those years. While public preschool plays a critical role for some, most of the experiences that prepare a child to thrive happen at home and in the community, long before a school bell ever rings. That’s why schools can’t solve this challenge alone.
Over the last decade, Read Ready Covington — launched under the leadership of former Mayor Joe Meyer and now championed by Mayor Ron Washington — has shown the potential of place-based learning initiatives to embed early literacy into city life, coordinate partners, and make learning visible in public spaces. That vision is now inspiring a growing wave of civic leadership across the River Cities.
The momentum is real and it’s being led from city hall. The Newport City Commission and Board of Education have taken action to establish Read Ready Newport. They were followed by the Dayton and Ludlow city councils, with the Ludlow Board of Education also stepping up in support. Bellevue and Southgate followed shortly after and we now have all six river cities committed to Read Ready. In each case, mayoral leadership has been pivotal. These leaders have brought together schools, families, and community partners to put early learning at the center of civic life. It is work any city can do, and every city should do.
This shift is about making early learning visible, accessible, and woven into everyday life. It means expanding proven programs like Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which mails a free book each month to children from birth to age five, and the Footsteps2Brilliance digital app, which gives families a multilingual literacy tool they can use anywhere. It means offering more community-based activities that blend learning with family fun, from vocabulary scavenger hunts, and story walks, to interactive signs in public spaces and family reading challenges. It means pursuing public preschool expansion aligned with childcare assistance, so that three hours of high-quality preschool can be paired with a full day of learning. It also means investing in peer-to-peer parent activation so that families are equipped, supported, and connected. And it means building better data systems to track progress and learn what’s working.
When communities adopt this mindset that every young child is “our kid,” whether they live under your roof or down the street, kindergarten readiness becomes everyone’s responsibility. It’s not the job of schools alone, but of city halls, school boards, community organizations, employers, neighbors, and families themselves.
We all benefit when children arrive at school ready to learn, grow, and thrive. The bar is clear. The momentum is real. Now it’s time for all of us to rise and meet it together.
Cheye Calvo is CEO of EducateNKY