413Families

The 413families texting program is a premier resource for families caring for young children and schooling from home during this time. At about 4,000 opt-ins in both English and Spanish, we have adjusted our messaging to support families during the Coronavirus pandemic.  Resources shared are for local, at-home learning opportunities, and interactive photo challenges are now weekly (click here to visit the 413families website to check out the most recent photo submissions from our opt-ins!). This was recently covered in a half-hour segment by WWLP/22 News' InFocus. Click here to watch.

School Readiness - Essential Child Care Supports

School Readiness Work Group is preparing free resources for the 15 Essential Family Child Cares currently in operation in Springfield. Some partners will be supporting by loaning the expertise of their mental health partners in consulting for family child care providers. Others will be supplying curriculum materials, and together we will be purchasing a set of books for each. Family child care workers are also seeking cleaning supplies, which the work group will be attempting to seek out. Deliveries will be made directly to the child care providers from wholesalers directly, so we do not increase the chance of contamination.

Out of School Time - Summer Program Supports

Working directly with OST and Summer Providers, we are rolling out an online summer program guide (instead of our previous years’ printed guides). This will allow programs to make changes in real time, to provide the most updated information to families. Additionally, we are supporting programs with literacy practices training and summer reading to roll out our annual Springfield Reads! Reading 20 minutes daily challenge. We are awaiting guidance on the opening of programs (and some are considering virtual programs) as to how we will continue this work.

Our Website

Our newly-launched website is now ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant, allowing folks using screen readers increased usability. The website also easily integrates with our social media platforms. We want our new site to be a hub for the variety of resources we share on 413Families and via our partner and expert blog posts.

Social Media Engagement

Our engagement continues to climb on social media, especially during this time at home and as a premier literacy resource locally and across the country. In the past year, we have added over 500 likes on Facebook and increased engagement on instagram over 2,000%. We are shared across the country in school districts, libraries, and community leaders, especially on Facebook and Twitter. We are entering the LinkedIn space soon.