The Santa Ana Unified School District Board of Education recently recognized the Santa Ana Early Learning Initiative (SAELI), a community partnership of parents, caregivers, leaders, community agencies, and schools dedicated to improving early learning in reading, math, and social-emotional development for all children ages 0 to 9 in Santa Ana.
The SAELI Partnership started in the summer of 2015 and has developed into a network of over 50 partners and organizations working together to better coordinate and align the delivery of services to families in Santa Ana. Their goal is to improve early learning outcomes through service alignment and coordination, plus community engagement.
They have adopted the Two-Generation Model that works on providing support and services to both parents and children so that they can serve the entire family, not just the needs of the children. Within this framework, they focus on early childhood education, especially on children ages 0-to-3, and on services that help improve the economic stability of families.
SAELI helps build the social capital of the community though networks of friends, neighbors, the local schools, and community-based organizations.
SAELI works at the neighborhood level and has engaged the schools and community-based organizations. Their network includes four distinct neighborhoods with 12 different elementary schools, including Edison, Esqueda, Pio Pico, Davis, Garfield, Heninger, Kennedy, King, Lowell, Madison, Monroe, and Washington.
