LAUP representatives recently met with Congressional and White House staff in Washington, D.C., where they sought support for efforts to increase accessibility to early childhood education.

LAUP is accepting nominations to recognize five outstanding educators who teach preschool in Los Angeles County, who will be honored for going above and beyond the call of duty to better prepare preschool students for elementary school and life.

In a sign of tough economic times, a record number of parents applied to have their children attend an LAUP preschool at Mountainview Elementary School in Saugus, where a lottery took place to determine which children would be enrolled for the 2010-11 school year.

Please mark your calendar for a town hall with representatives of the California Early Learning Quality Improvement System (CAEL QIS) Advisory Committee on March 26, 2010 from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at the Braille Institute, located at 741 North Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles.

In a report released by Pre-K Now, it states that according to studies, teachers with bachelor's degrees and specialized training in early education are more effective than those educators who don't hold such credentials.

LAUP, along with the entire early childhood education (ECE) community, was highly anticipating the passage of the Early Learning Challenge Fund (ELCF) legislation that has been working its way through Congress.

Children need to read more in and out of school and they need more challenging materials, conversations and discussions to help their skills blossom into academic competence later on, according to a new report. And along with decoding letters, "systematic early attention must be paid to developing oral language skills," the report stated.

It's the kids. We do it for the kids. And that is where your donation goes: to programs, classrooms and quality education that directly benefits the kids of Los Angeles County. Your investment in the children of our community pays a lifetime of positive returns. Your donation, no matter what size, helps another child move that much closer to obtaining a high-quality preschool education, which prepares them for a successful future thanks to the proven benefits of preschool education. On behalf of all the children of LAUP, we thank you for your donation and welcome you to the LAUP family.