Happy spring, DC families! April is the Month of the Young Child, a time when we celebrate DC’s young children and families and the educators, early interventionists and service coordinators who support their growth and development. I encourage you to take part in the celebrations and activities throughout April, such as those hosted by DC Child Care Connections, the DC Association for the Education of Young Children (DCAEYC) and the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). 

I hope you enjoy reading this newsletter and trying out the fun ideas for activities with your child that are included below. If you have any questions or suggestions, please email me at Andres.Alvarado@dc.gov.  

Andres Alvarado
Part C Director, DC Early Intervention Program

Strong Start partners with DC Public Library (DCPL) to host free community playgroups every month for infants and toddlers and their families. These community playgroups provide families with information about their child’s development, early childhood developmental screenings, early intervention process and community resources available to DC families. Community playgroups are facilitated by early intervention professionals and provide a family-centered, child-interest driven environment for children to interact with their peers, while families receive information about early intervention-related topics. 

Community playgroups are held on different days throughout each month depending on location. Families are encouraged to register in advance for playgroup sessions. Click here to register. 

If you have questions or require assistance registering, contact Christopher Chapman at (202) 741-0792 or Christopher.Chapman@dc.gov.

Upcoming playgroups:

• Woodridge Neighborhood Library (NEW LOCATION!) – 1801 Hamlin St. NE
  • April 26, May 24 and June 28 from 11 a.m.-12 p.m.
• Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood Library – 3660 Alabama Ave. SE
  • May 1 and June 5 from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. 
• Mount Pleasant Neighborhood Library – 3160 16^th St. NW
  • May 1 and June 5 from 12-1 p.m. 

Strong Start Parent Support Group will resume virtually in June. This group offers meaningful connections with other families and is an opportunity to share, reflect and engage.  

Each group meeting has minimal “agenda items” and is meant to give families an open, secure and judgement-free space to engage. Meetings take place virtually using Teams and topics vary. Additional information about community resources and programs will also be shared during the meeting.  

The topic for June is: Understanding Your Child’s Developmental Delay Diagnosis. Registration is required. Spanish interpretation is available. Meetings will take place on the following dates and times using Microsoft Teams:

• Thursday, June 6, 2024 from 7-8 p.m.
• Thursday, June 20, 2024 from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. 
• Click here to register for session

If you have questions or need help with the registration, please contact your service coordinator or Christopher Chapman at Christopher.Chapman@dc.gov. 

My School DC early childhood lottery results were released on March 29. If you completed a My School DC application, it’s time to enroll! Families must enroll their child at their matched school by May 1, 2024 to secure a seat at that school. More information is available on the My School DC website. 

If your child is receiving extended Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) services with Strong Start, there are a few other things you should keep in mind when enrolling: 

• If your child will turn 4 years old before Aug. 31, 2024, your child will age out of the extended IFSP services the day before the first day of the 2024-25 school year. If you plan to enroll your child in a DC Public Schools (DCPS) school, Early Stages will contact you over the summer to finalize your child’s individualized education program (IEP) and offer you a seat in a school that meets your child’s needs. Early Stages will offer this seat even if you have enrolled in a lottery seat, so you can talk to your team about your choices if the seat offered is different from your lottery choice. If you plan to enroll your child in a public charter school, please contact your Strong Start service coordinator so they can connect you with someone at that school.   

• If your child will not yet be 4 years old before Aug. 31, 2024, but you are choosing to enroll them in school for the 2024-25 school year, please contact your Strong Start service coordinator. They will help you complete the extended IFSP termination form and send it to Early Stages if you are enrolling with DCPS, or to the public charter school where you plan to enroll your child. If you are enrolling your child in DCPS, please work with your Strong Start service coordinator to submit your termination form to Early Stages on or after June 1, 2023.  

Brrr, winter in the Washington, DC, area was cold this year! Whether you are inside staying warm with one kid, several kids or a classroom full of kids, there is always something to do, a way to learn and things to entertain young learners as the weather starts to warm up.    

As birds begin to chirp and plants begin to blossom, it is a great time for children to learn about nature. A pack of seeds can be planted in a window/porch planter box, a paper cup or in your yard. Big kids can learn about the steps and procedures needed for plants to grow. This can include creating and decorating the container, planting the seeds, caring for them and labeling different parts of plants once they sprout. You may even consider planting basil or other kitchen herbs. Smaller kids can glue paper leaves you have cut out onto paper to make their own trees or flower art. Experiencing textures and materials (with adult supervision) is a great way for young children to learn.  

You can encourage big body movements by making shakers from empty water bottles, baby food jars, Tupperware and other containers in your home sealed and filled with uncooked pasta, twigs from a walk around your neighborhood or small rocks. You can then use these shakers to encourage little ones to crawl toward, crawl over your leg to get to, pull up on furniture to obtain or cruise at the sofa to reach the shakers. Bigger kids can shake the container and make sounds while singing songs and making their own music. There are always opportunities to practice language and communication throughout the day!  

Your DCPL card and its accompanying Libby app are a great way to access books about spring. Find books about animals that hibernate all winter in anticipation of spring (like, Hibernation Station, by Michelle Meadows), books about different types of birds (like, Hello, World! Birds, by Jill McDonald) and literature on insects and spiders that emerge in warmer months (like, Bug Hunt, by Tom Story.) Some of these books include bright, beautiful pictures you can label to supplement the story. Labeling items on pages and narrating the things you see as you move around your neighborhood are great ways to build language into your day-to-day routines.  

Don’t forget about the District’s main spring attraction: cherry blossoms! This year’s Cherry Blossom festival events are scheduled from March 20 - April 14 and include a variety of family-friendly events such as the Blossom Kite festival, the Japanese Street Festival, the Oxon Run Pinknic and Kite Fly, as well as the Sakura Taiko Fest.  

Check out these upcoming events for families:

• Help a Wishing Tree Grow – During the cherry blossom season, Planet Word invites guests to help build a Wishing Tree. They can select a poem from a collection of poetry, write it on a slip of paper, and place it inside an origami paper petal ‘pocket’ that is adhered to the branches of the museum’s cherry blossom tree. At the end of the festival, the petals will be passed on to visitors in the museum as a symbol of friendship. Note that (free) passes are required for admission to the museum. 
• Family Empowerment Series: IEP v. 504 Plan: Which is Right for my Child? – DC Special Education Hub is hosting an online training for parents who want to understand the differences between individualized education programs (IEPs) and 504 Plans, so you can make informed decisions about what's best for your child. This free training will be held on Monday, April 22 from 7-8 p.m. Register here.
• STAR Fest 2024 – Celebrate singing, talking and reading with the whole family! Hosted by DCPL from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturday, April 27 at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library - Central Library on 901 G St. NW.
• Family Empowerment Series: Family Rights/Procedural Safeguards – DC Special Education Hub is hosting this online training for parents who want to learn all about the rights of DC parents when it comes to special education. They will cover parent rights, confidentiality, types of complaints and how to file them, and the appeals process. This free training will be held on Monday, May 6 from 7-8 p.m. Register here.
• Advocates for Justice and Education (AJE) Parent Café – AJE is hosting a Parent Café for parents/caregivers of children with IEPs, 504 Plans or developmental concerns to participate in their parent-led conversation designed to empower families and the community at large. Parent Café will be held virtually on April 27, May 25 and June 22, 2024 from 10 a.m.- 12 p.m. Register here. 

The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) must submit an annual grant application to the US Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to receive a grant award under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Part C (IDEA Part C) to support the provision of early intervention services. 

The draft of the state application and spending plan for IDEA Part C for federal fiscal year 2024 (FFY 2024), which runs from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025, is now available on the OSSE website. The public is invited to provide comments on the application until May 17, 2024. To share feedback, please email Andres Alvarado, director of the Part C DC Early Intervention Program (DCEIP), at Andres.Alvarado@dc.gov  or OSSE.Publiccomment@dc.gov.