Education and Families Initiative

Why an Edu­ca­tion and Fam­i­lies Initiative? 

We believe that uni­ver­sal access to out-of-school learn­ing has the pow­er to close the edu­ca­tion­al oppor­tu­ni­ty gap and sup­port the suc­cess and ful­fill­ment of youth in Teton County. 

• From birth through age 18, a child spends less than 20% of their wak­ing hours inside of a K‑12 class­room. Out-of-school expe­ri­ences can ensure that much of the remain­ing time is enrich­ing and impactful. 

• Teton Coun­ty has very robust out-of-school learn­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties, and we aspire to make these oppor­tu­ni­ties acces­si­ble to all young learners. 

• We believe that by bring­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties to youth who may not have access to them, we can help to address the oppor­tu­ni­ty gap and ensure suc­cess and ful­fill­ment for all young learners. 

How does the Edu­ca­tion and Fam­i­lies Ini­tia­tive work in the community? 

The Edu­ca­tion and Fam­i­lies Ini­tia­tive is cur­rent­ly work­ing in the com­mu­ni­ty as Expand­ed Learn­ing Col­lec­tive. As a col­lec­tive of edu­ca­tion orga­ni­za­tions and com­mu­ni­ty lead­ers, each mem­ber brings their unique skills and per­spec­tives to col­lab­o­ra­tive­ly address the needs of our com­mu­ni­ty that no one per­son or orga­ni­za­tion can meet on their own. 

• We impact young learn­ers by sup­port­ing those who con­tribute to their suc­cess, includ­ing edu­ca­tors, insti­tu­tions, and families. 

• We ground our work in data, sto­ries, and the wis­dom and expe­ri­ences of com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers to ensure equi­table access to out-of-school learning. 

What is the Edu­ca­tion and Fam­i­lies Ini­tia­tive work­ing to accomplish? 

We work to address bar­ri­ers to access, sup­port edu­ca­tor recruit­ment and reten­tion and build stronger rela­tion­ships between providers and their con­stituents. Expand­ed Learn­ing Col­lec­tive is focused on three strate­gic priorities: 

• Sup­port­ing the recruit­ment, reten­tion and devel­op­ment of high qual­i­ty out-of-school edu­ca­tors to ensure youth in Teton Coun­ty receive the high­est qual­i­ty programming. 

• Cre­at­ing deep­er con­nec­tions between pro­gram providers and local fam­i­lies so that pro­grams are rel­e­vant to the needs of local youth. 

• Address­ing key bar­ri­ers to access so that every young per­son can receive the pro­found ben­e­fits of out-of-school learn­ing experiences. 

Who is involved in the Edu­ca­tion and Fam­i­lies Initiative? 

Formed in 2010, Expand­ed Learn­ing Col­lec­tive mem­bers include more than 35 local edu­ca­tion and youth ser­vice non-prof­its, gov­ern­ment agen­cies and businesses.