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NOEEN CITY SEATS SCHOOL YEAR 2019-202028575377190Early Learning Center Application Submission InstructionsReview this entire document so that you can are familiar with the program and requirements. Review the “Approved NOEEN Coordinated Funding Request Process” process posted on . Note the criterion that will be used to evaluate your application: Quality: Applicants will receive a Quality Score based on the center’s 2017- 2018 Performance Profile Parent Demand: Applicants will be assessed on whether or not families actively seek to enroll their children, using waitlist data (where applicable). Geography: Geography will be taken into consideration to ensure that seats are available throughout the city, and are located in areas of need.Site Visit: Applicants will receive a Site Visit Score based on efficacy of the program, health and safety practices, and visitor observations Carefully read the program requirements and assurances (Sections 4 and 5, beginning on page 9).Plan for your Center accordingly. Answer the questions thoroughly regarding your organization’s desire to participate in the program.Determine the number of seats for NOEEN City Seats that you would like to serve next year. Detail your preferred number of infants (6 weeks to 11 months), 1 (12 months to 23 months), and 2 (24 months to 35 months) year olds. Child’s age is calculated using the LDE standard of the age of the child on September 30th, 2019. Note that all participating programs will be expected to serve at least two children in each of those age groups. Complete the application below. Each organization should only submit one application form, even if the organization has more than one location. Please answer the questions to the best of your ability. Take as much space as you need to appropriately address each question. Print, initial and sign the assurances.Submit the full application and scanned signed assurances to the New Orleans Early Education Network, no later than Friday, January 11, 2018, at 5:00 p.m. Applications should be submitted to centerapp@. Please save files with your organization’s name in the file name (Example: “CFRApplication_ExploreAcademy”). If you can’t scan in your assurances, they can be hand-delivered or mailed to NOEEN at Agenda for Children (8300 Earhart Blvd., Suite 201, New Orleans, LA 70118). However, they must be received by (not postmarked by) Friday, January 11, 2018 in order to be considered.Participate in a Site Visit and/ interview (if necessary) the week of January 14, 2019. If you have questions regarding your CFR Application between now and the deadline, please email both Jen Roberts (jen@) and Teresa Falgoust (tfalgoust@). Questions will be answered in the order of receipt. 00Early Learning Center Application Submission InstructionsReview this entire document so that you can are familiar with the program and requirements. Review the “Approved NOEEN Coordinated Funding Request Process” process posted on . Note the criterion that will be used to evaluate your application: Quality: Applicants will receive a Quality Score based on the center’s 2017- 2018 Performance Profile Parent Demand: Applicants will be assessed on whether or not families actively seek to enroll their children, using waitlist data (where applicable). Geography: Geography will be taken into consideration to ensure that seats are available throughout the city, and are located in areas of need.Site Visit: Applicants will receive a Site Visit Score based on efficacy of the program, health and safety practices, and visitor observations Carefully read the program requirements and assurances (Sections 4 and 5, beginning on page 9).Plan for your Center accordingly. Answer the questions thoroughly regarding your organization’s desire to participate in the program.Determine the number of seats for NOEEN City Seats that you would like to serve next year. Detail your preferred number of infants (6 weeks to 11 months), 1 (12 months to 23 months), and 2 (24 months to 35 months) year olds. Child’s age is calculated using the LDE standard of the age of the child on September 30th, 2019. Note that all participating programs will be expected to serve at least two children in each of those age groups. Complete the application below. Each organization should only submit one application form, even if the organization has more than one location. Please answer the questions to the best of your ability. Take as much space as you need to appropriately address each question. Print, initial and sign the assurances.Submit the full application and scanned signed assurances to the New Orleans Early Education Network, no later than Friday, January 11, 2018, at 5:00 p.m. Applications should be submitted to centerapp@. Please save files with your organization’s name in the file name (Example: “CFRApplication_ExploreAcademy”). If you can’t scan in your assurances, they can be hand-delivered or mailed to NOEEN at Agenda for Children (8300 Earhart Blvd., Suite 201, New Orleans, LA 70118). However, they must be received by (not postmarked by) Friday, January 11, 2018 in order to be considered.Participate in a Site Visit and/ interview (if necessary) the week of January 14, 2019. If you have questions regarding your CFR Application between now and the deadline, please email both Jen Roberts (jen@) and Teresa Falgoust (tfalgoust@). Questions will be answered in the order of receipt. COORDINATED FUNDING REQUESTNOEEN CITY SEATS SCHOOL YEAR 2019-2020COORDINATED FUNDING REQUESTThis document details the required application process for Type III Early Learning Centers (Centers) in Orleans Parish wishing to serve children under the age of three through the City of New Orleans/New Orleans Early Education Network (NOEEN) City Seats program for the 2019-2020 school year. Overview of NOEEN CITY SEATS Project In December 2017, former Mayor Landrieu of New Orleans and the New Orleans City Council approved a historic budget allocation of $750,000 to fund early childhood education seats for children ages zero to three in the city. This historic investment represented the first time the City of New Orleans made public investment in the creation of new “seats” for early childhood education and was a remarkable first step to ensure that every child in New Orleans receives access to quality care and learning opportunities, ages 0-5. Six early learning centers were selected as the inaugural sites of this pilot program, which will operate through July 2019. This project is an initiative of the New Orleans Early Education Network (NOEEN), which acts as the grantee and primary manager of this project. NOEEN’s partners include Agenda for Children, which helps coordinate the project, provides teacher support and coaching to every teacher with NOEEN City Seats students in their classroom, and also completes assessments in the classrooms of the environment and the interactions between the teachers and students. EnrollNOLA, a division of the Orleans Parish School Board, helped families apply for seats when assistance was needed and reviewed applicant’s eligibility in conjunction with local Head Start providers. EnrollNOLA manages enrollment for these sites, ensuring that seats are filled quickly when students leave the program. The New Orleans City Council and Mayor’s Office, who provided the initial funding, continue to provide ongoing counsel for the project. This public investment also leveraged additional private financial support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Their funds allow NOEEN to partner with three others important partners: TrainingGrounds, Tulane?Infant and Early?Childhood Mental Health?Consultation and Support?Services?(TIKES), and LSU-Child Development Center. TrainingGrounds provides City Seats parents, caregivers, children, and teachers with workshops, trainings, communication tools, and a space to play called the WePLAY Center. TIKES provides assessments to determine if each City Seats child is on target and helps coordinate mental health services should a need be identified. A partnership with the New Orleans Speech and Hearing Center enables speech and hearing screenings of each child in the program. With the support of LSU-HSC’s Child Development Center, NOEEN is also conducting a program evaluation to determine how the program has benefited the children, families, and centers who participate.On November 29, 2018, Mayor Cantrell recommended and the New Orleans City Council approved a second year of programming in the amount of $1.5M to expand the program to serve an estimated 100+ children. The program will run August 2019 through July 2020. Eligible families will be able to apply for these seats through OneApp in early 2019. Overview of the New Orleans Early Education NetworkThe New Orleans Early Education Network (NOEEN) seeks to create a high-quality and seamless educational system for children by increasing at-risk children’s access to quality early care and education, and by designing and implementing a systematic approach to improve the quality of all publicly funded early learning programs. NOEEN is comprised of all publicly funded early childhood care and education providers in Orleans Parish—more than 150 providers including public schools, non-public schools, Type III early learning centers, Early Head Start and Head Start centers—serving more than 5,500 publicly funded infant to five-year-old children. NOEEN is also Orleans Parish’s Early Childhood Lead Agency and is therefore responsible for ensuring that the network fully coordinates early childhood standards, evaluations, observations, enrollment, and funding per Act 3 of the 2012 Regular Legislative Session. Overview of the Coordinated Funding Request (CFR)Each early childhood care and education network in the state, including NOEEN, submits a Coordinated Funding Request to the Louisiana Department of Education (LDE) detailing recommendations for seat allocations to specific operators for LA 4, NSECD, and Preschool Expansion Grant (PEG) for the 2019-2020 school year. The goal of NOEEN’s Coordinated Funding Request is to ensure that the limited number of publicly-funded early childhood seats are allocated to those programs that:Are high quality;Are in high demand by parents; andMeet families’ needsBecause the NOEEN City Seats funding became available after the Fall 2018 Coordinated Funding Process closed, NOEEN is operating a special NOEEN City Seats Coordinated Funding process to allocate the 100+ seats available through the City of New Orleans/NOEEN program for the 2019-2020 school year. The NOEEN City Seats Coordinated Funding Request Allocations will be approved by the NOEEN Steering Committee at their January 30, 2019 meeting for inclusion in OneApp in early February 2019. Enrollment Eligibility Children enrolled in the program will receive the highest quality early care and education available in the City of New Orleans. Centers interested in applying for the seats must meet the following requirements:Only Type III early learning centers with a Performance Profile overall rating of Proficient or Excellent for the 2017-2018 school year are eligible to apply for these seats for prospective families. Priority points will be given to centers with the highest overall scores. Program must have a demonstrated track record of high quality performance on CLASS over the past two years and must agree to allow classroom teachers to receive on-going coaching and participate in other professional development activities offered through the Child Care Resource & Referral Agency and other sources as opportunities become available.Centers must also have a demonstrated track record as an active participant in all required NOEEN network activities, including CLASS observations, child count, GOLD checkpoints, EnrollNOLA where applicable, et cetera.Center must already be using Tier 1 curricula with qualified staff. Center must be willing to comply will all requirements as noted in Sections 4 and 5 in this Coordinated Funding Request Application. Target populationChildren under the age of three from households with incomes below the federal poverty threshold will be enrolled in these seats via the OneApp Enrollment System.Seat ReimbursementCenters who are selected to participate will receive $12,000/child annually, divided over 12 months. Reimbursement for each child will be made directly to the Early Learning Center on the 1st of the month based on their enrollment. These funds are to cover all tuition costs for the child, any fees, as well as any consumables (wipes, materials, diapers, etc.). Families should not have any costs related to their participation in the program. Note that each center or school is responsible for ensuring that seats allocated to their organization remain filled. Centers are only guaranteed funding for the number of children who are actually enrolled. Please consider this as you determine the number of seats to request. Although we anticipate that funding will be available for these seats beyond the 2019-2020 school year, the current agreement with the City of New Orleans is for one year only.Notification of AwardThe New Orleans Early Education Network will vote on the responses and recommendations of the NOEEN City Seats Coordinated Funding Request on Wednesday, January 30, 2019 at their January meeting. Recommendations will be made available on the NOEEN website on Monday, January 28, 2019 at CITY SEATS COORDINATED FUNDING REQUEST APPLICATION Section 1: Applicant Profile and Contact InformationOrganizational InformationCenter NameCenter Website/Facebook PageCenter Phone NumberCenter Hours of Operation / Start Time for ChildrenCurrent Licensed CapacityAges of Children Currently Served at Center for 2018-19 Current Total Number of Children Enrolled at Center (all ages)How many families are on your waitlist (if applicable?) Leader InformationDirector NamePhone NumberEmail AddressApplication Contact InformationThe person who should be contacted with questions about the application. It may be the same person as the director.Application Contact Name & TitlePhone NumberEmail AddressCurrent Enrollment by Age Group & Funding SourceAge GroupPrivate PayCCAPEarly Head Start2018-2019 NOEENCity SeatsOther:TotalInfants (birth up to 12 months)Ones (12 -23 months)Twos(24 months to 35 months)Threes(36 months to 47 months)Fours(48 months to 59 months)School-Age ChildrenClassrooms and Teacher InformationClassroom NameAges of childrenEnrollmentLead Teacher NameLead Teacher CredentialsAssistant Teacher NameAssistant Teacher CredentialsPlease describe any other information about your organization that you would like evaluators to know in the space provided. Examples of helpful responses may include information related to your organization’s connection to the purpose and intention of these seats, mission and values, leadership team, history, important milestones, unique programs or initiatives, and key community supports and/or partners. If you have a finding related to licensing, please explain and list the corrective action steps. Section 2: Seat RequestPlease carefully read the instructions below in order to fill out the seat request correctly. Column A: List the name of all centers where your organization is currently serving students. List the name of each physical center location on a separate row. Column B: Please list the physical address of the center where the classroom is or will be located. Column C: Please list the total number of City seats you would like to serve at that location for 2019-2020 The adult to child ratio for these seats is one to four, so most centers will request seats in units of 4. Please note that you need to have adequate space, and these seats cannot displace children currently enrolled at the center. ONLY RETURNING CITY SEATS PARTNERS WHO CURRENTLY WORK WITH THE CITY SEATS PROGRAM SHOULD FILL OUT ANYTHING IN THE “RETURNING FROM 2018-2019” ROWS. ABCCenter Location NameLocation(Address where classroom will be located)Requested # of SeatsNew Request (for 2019-20)# of Infants (Age 0)# of Toddler (Age 1)# of Toddler (Age 2)Returning* (from 2018-19)# of Toddler (will be Age 1 in 2019-20)# of Toddler(will be Age 2 in 2019-20)TOTAL SEATS REQUESTED FOR SITE LOCATIONNew Request (for 2019-20)# of Infants (Age 0)# of Toddler (Age 1)# of Toddler (Age 2)Returning* (from 2018-19)# of Toddler (will be Age 1 in 2019-20)# of Toddler(will be Age 2 in 2019-20)TOTAL SEATS REQUESTED FOR SITE LOCATIONNew Request (for 2019-20)# of Infants (Age 0)# of Toddler (Age 1)# of Toddler (Age 2)Returning* (from 2018-19)# of Toddler (will be Age 1 in 2019-20)# of Toddler(will be Age 2 in 2019-20)TOTAL SEATS REQUESTED FOR SITE LOCATIONTOTAL NUMBER OF SEATS REQUESTED (ALL SITES) Section 3: Application QuestionsIMPORTANT NOTE: PLEASE SPECIFICALLY ADDRESS EACH LOCATION YOUR ORGANIZATION IS REQUESTING SEATS FOR IN THE QUESTIONS BELOW. Describe your organization’s prior experience in operating an early learning classroom and provide evidence of success. Please describe the physical space that is available or will be made available to accommodate the seats requested. Include any necessary modifications or approvals that may be necessary to ensure the space is developmentally appropriate and in compliance. How do you recruit, hire, and train quality teachers and support staff for children at the center? Describe how your organization supports the development of all children, including children with disabilities, English language learners, and other at-risk children populations, and how you will ensure appropriate services and supports for these children at your center. How will your organization actively engage parents and communicate their child’s progress (on a daily basis and throughout the school year)? RETURNING CITY SEATS CENTERS ONLY: Please describe why you would like to remain in the City Seats program, how you will maintain/improve your participation, and how additional seats at your center would expand access and quality for New Orleans families. Section 4: NOEEN City Seats Program RequirementsThe NOEEN City Seats program is a program funded fully from general funds from the City of New Orleans’ 2019 Budget. Programs who participate must ensure that the families who are selected to participate are welcomed and fully supported. If awarded seats, the Early Learning Center agrees to comply with the following program requirements: Provide child development services to minimum eight children ages six weeks to two years old as of September 30th of the upcoming school year who have been verified by EnrollNOLA as eligible for the program and who are residents of New Orleans; Provide all consumables (including diapers, wipes, formula and baby food) and cover the costs of any fees or materials/supplies. Each participating center will sign a more detailed MOU with NOEEN outlining the center's responsibilities and NOEEN's responsibilities.Beginning on August 5, 2019, provide full day, full year services for 10 hours per day, five (5) days/week, for 250 days/year (50 weeks) with the exception of designated professional development days and holidays when the center is closed; Maintain a current Louisiana Type “3” child day care center license;Maintain a teacher/child ratio of no higher than one (1) teacher to four (4) children, with no group having more than eight (8) children at all times; Utilize a Tier 1 curriculum in all of the classrooms that serve children enrolled in the program; Utilize Teaching Strategies GOLD as the assessment instrument and complete checkpoints by the deadlines set by LDE;Communicate results from each GOLD checkpoint to families;Maintain and comply with all Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) requirements, understanding that the failure to maintain funding from CACFP will result in the termination of the partnership; Comply with Louisiana Child Care Licensing Regulations and all State and City Fire Marshall codes and regulations;Provide NOEEN with up-to-date copies of inspection reports for the aforementioned within one business day of receiving the inspection report, and annually; Maintain professional, child liability and accident insurance at all times, with no lapse of coverage, and include NOEEN as an additional insured;Maintain a current operational license;Maintain full enrollment at all times;Ensure that recruitment activities are aggressive and ongoing;Provide material and equipment necessary for the daily care and education of infants and toddlers; Provide parents with a parent handbook at the beginning of the program year, including a list of all dates of closure, including holidays and professional development days;Screen all children within 45 days of program entry using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) and refer families appropriately;Serve children with disabilities appropriately, to include: working with Early Steps providers to ensure children can receive services (including audiology, physiology, occupational therapy, speech/language, psychological and assistive technology services) in the context of their natural environment, assuring that the environment is accessible; and offering materials and equipment that is accessible and appropriate; Participate fully in all NOEEN required activities, including child count, data certification and requests for classroom configurations; Ensure the center remains in compliance with all local, state and Federal regulations and policies at all times;Participate in NOEEN sponsored trainings including the annual pre-service training;Fully participate in NOEEN required meetings for any staff paid with NOEEN grant funding e.g., Directors/Owners, Teachers, etc.;Actively participate in ongoing quality improvement efforts offered through the program, including allowing classroom teachers to engage in coaching and other professional development activities (a description of these activities will be provided later) with staff from Agenda for Children, Tulane University, and TrainingGrounds.Participate in the NOEEN sponsored self-assessment; Support all activities needed to evaluate the impact of the project’s activities on the teachers, children and families; to include additional assessments of the classroom, children and teachers;Fully participate in NOEEN compliance and monitoring visits, including, but not limited to, allowing NOEEN access to conduct unannounced visits;Host visits from City of New Orleans staff, elected officials, and other individuals involved with the initiative, to observe the program and talk with center staff, project staff, and families;Ensure that every teacher in a participating classroom maintains and keeps, at minimum, a current updated Child Development Associate (CDA) credential with infant and toddler endorsement; teachers with an associate’s or bachelor’s degree should have the degree in early childhood education (or have a minimum of 12 credits in early childhood education).Maintain attendance records, as required by the program including maintaining accurate attendance in the Schoolforce enrollment system, and submit attendance information to Agenda for Children by the 8th of every month; Ensure that children attend at least 75% of days each month; in the event that a child experiences unexcused absences for more than 25% of the days two months in a row, they should be dismissed from the program;Submit program reports by the 8th of the month including, but not limited to, attendance recordsAdhere to all EnrollNOLA policies regarding coordinated enrollment, including discharging students in Schoolforce as soon as a child leaves the program;Maintain records and submit data on staff credentials;Maintain records verifying that all children are up to date on their immunizations at program entry, and on an annual basis thereafter; Immediately notify NOEEN of any critical incidents involving/impacting staff, NOEEN-funded children and/or families; Maintain adequate, legible, genuine, current, and complete records of services rendered under the terms of this agreement and to make available all such records, which at a minimum, shall consist of, but are not limited to, the following categories and/or documents:Enrollment records that include copies of all supporting documents that validate the family’s eligibility for the programLesson plans, child assessment dataTeacher notes and correspondencesFamily partnership agreements and family contact informationMaster cards;Maintain staff files that include:Criminal background clearancesThree written professional referencesProfessional development plans and/or annual performance appraisals that include specific areas of improvement for staff with action steps and checkpointsSigned Job descriptionsRecord of trainingsState Central Registry Forms updated annuallyAncillary CertificateVerification of credentials (e.g. CDA, college transcripts, etc.)Section 5: Coordinated Funding Request AssurancesIn order to complete the NOEEN 2018-19 Coordinated Funding Request and have your organization’s seat requests considered, an individual authorized to sign on your organization’s behalf must initial each of the following assurances and sign at the bottom of this form.Please print, sign, scan, and email this document along with your completed application to the email addresses below. Include your organization’s name in the file name (Example: “CFRAssurances_ExploreAcademy”) and email it to centerapp@ no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, January 11, 2019.Program Performance Assurances Initial AssuranceI have read the Section 4 Program Requirements and agree to comply with any and all participation requirements per my Scope of Work and Subcontract with the New Orleans Early Education Network. I understand that no 2019-20 seats are guaranteed for my organization and that all seat requests are dependent on: 1) recommendations from the NOEEN Steering Committee; and 2) funding from the City of New Orleans.I understand that the allocation of seats may be amended if the number of awarded slots in this application is not filled. I understand that applicants who are awarded seats through the Coordinated Funded Request process but subsequently decide to “give up” some of those seats may be penalized in subsequent Coordinated Funding Request Processes.If granted seats, my organization agrees to enroll, register, and serve all students assigned to the class(es) through the OneApp/EnrollNOLA citywide process year-round at the center location.If granted city seats, my organization agrees to 1) provide first priority to all students with disabilities assigned to the classes through the OneApp/EnrollNOLA citywide process year-round at the center location, regardless of disability status, type, severity, or level of services required and 2) provide all services required for these students pursuant to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).If granted seats, my organization agrees to participate in the New Orleans Early Education Network (NOEEN) and comply with all NOEEN required actions, including, but not limited to:Submission of data, in accordance with state and federal privacy laws, that is necessary to help NOEEN fulfill its lawful responsibilities (ex: classroom and teacher counts and information, class size, teacher qualifications, etc.), as periodically requested by Agenda for Children;Teacher, administrator, or other early childhood staff attendance at important NOEEN meetings and trainings;Trainings, checkpoints, and other activities related to the implementation of TS GOLD;Participation in twice yearly CLASS observations; andEnrolling and registering all city-funded students through OneApp/EnrollNOLA according to policies in the approved NOEEN Coordinated Enrollment Framework.I agree that all seats funded through the grant will be aligned to the City of New Orleans/NOEEN program requirements. I agree that all funds for the program will be expended according to all regulations of the grant.I agree that all records and other documents will be maintained for at least (3) federal fiscal years after the final payment or as described in 4 CFR 74.53(b), whichever is longest.I, the undersigned, am authorized to sign and submit this application on behalf of the public charter/nonpublic school and/or child care center. I assure and certify that the agency site(s) will comply with the assurances, regulations, policies, guidelines, and/or requirements, as they relate to the application, acceptance, and use of funds for the program(s) for which this application is made. This agreement, including the assurances contained herein, is binding on the institution, its successors, transferees, and assignees as long as it receives financial assistance to fund the program(s) for which this application is made. This agreement, including the assurances contained herein, is given in consideration of and for the purpose of obtaining any and all financial assistance to operate the program(s) for which this application is made.The information in this agreement is true and correct to the best of my knowledge, including the name and mailing address below. I understand that this information is hereby given in connection with the receipt of funds for the program(s) for which this application is made. I understand that City of New Orleans personnel may, for cause, verify information, and that deliberate misrepresentation may subject me to prosecution under applicable law. ________________________________________________________________Signature of Representative Name of OrganizationOwner/Director _____________________________ ___________________________________ Title Email Address_____________________________ ___________________________________Date Telephone NumberFOR NOEEN USE ONLY Date Application Received: ____________Reviewer: _______________Final Score: ______________Total Number of Seats: ______(0)_______(1)_________(2)Site Visit Scheduled: ____________Observers: _______________ NOTES: ................
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