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New Grantee Profile: Eos Funds Thrive in Five

March 2008

Boston’s young children face many challenges. One quarter of Boston families with children ages birth to five live at or below the poverty line. Over 50% of Boston households with young children are headed by adults who haven’t attended college, and 24% don’t have a high school diploma. These very real disparities too often impact children’s later school performance. To address the achievement gap at its earliest stages, the Eos Foundation has become a lead funder for Thrive in Five — Boston’s Promise to Its Children, a comprehensive school readiness framework that aims to ensure that Boston’s children are ready to succeed in school by age five.

Thrive in Five was developed jointly by the City of Boston and the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley, with broad community input. Eos’ funding will be used to hire a seasoned executive director and staff to help implement the plan developed by the community. Thrive in Five takes a holistic approach to children’s learning and has involved community partners from the education and health care fields - including the Boston Public Schools, Community Partnerships for Children, Partners Healthcare, Boston Medical Center, and Children’s Hospital Boston - from the earliest planning stages.

Through these collaborations, Thrive in Five plans to enable school readiness by raising the quality of early education and care, screening earlier for threats to healthy development, and conducting public awareness campaigns to engage parents and help them find resources to support their children’s development in the early years. Thrive in Five will also conduct regular, comprehensive evaluations to determine its effectiveness.

Research has shown that high-quality early education pays substantial dividends—as much as $14-$17 for every $1 invested. Because children's brains develop at a faster pace from birth to five than during any other time, it’s a critical opportunity to lay the groundwork for future development and learning. Thrive in Five’s efforts will help level the playing field for Boston’s children during this crucial period.