The mission of Success By 6 is to ensure that children in West Georgia enter school better prepared to learn.

We are a community partnership focused on improving school readiness through a strong network of public and private resources. We collaborate with school districts, child development centers, community organizations, local government and others to promote the healthy development of all children from conception through age five.

Everything we do at Success by 6 is in pursuit of one of the following goals:

Increase awareness of the importance early learning plays in school readiness
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Increase awareness of the importance early learning plays in school readiness

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Improve the quality of education provided at child care centers

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Ensure all young children have books in their home and are read to daily

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Help parents realize they are their child’s first teacher and assist them in being the best teacher possible.

We work towards these goals through a number of fantastic programs:

Summer PLAY

Summer Play was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19. Success By 6 partners with Maidee Smith Early Care and Learning Center and Certified Literate Community Program to oversee the early literacy enrichment program for children going into Pre-K and Kindergarten called Summer PLAY held during the month of June. In 2019, we hosted Summer PLAY camps in the morning with the first two weeks at the Bank of America building and the final two at Maidee Smith. With so many children not interested in learning during the summer, Summer PLAY is an opportunity to engage many children and keep them learning all year and counteract the summer slide.

Weekly Readers

Our Weekly Reader program coordinates volunteers throughout the community to go into early learning centers and read on a weekly basis. Our volunteers travel to Maidee Smith; Teaching, Loving, Caring Learning Center; Pride and Joy Daycare Center; Happy Days; Yvette’s Little World; Teachable Moments and McGregor Street Head Start. Each reader not only shares a book, but also discusses a career with the children and talks about what the children want to do after they graduate from high school. With an influx of new readers and two additional locations this year, we’re reaching more children than ever.

Get Troup Reading:

In 2020, one of the newest community organizations, GET TROUP READING, came into being. It is a perfect partner for Success By 6, since the goal of Get Troup Reading is for all Troup County students to be reading on grade level by the end of third grade. In February, 2020, Get Troup Reading held its first Summit and invited speakers who are experts in the field to make presentations about the importance of reading in a child’s life. Success By 6 and Get Troup Reading are perfect partners, Get Troup Reading expands our goal from having all children ready to learn when they enter school to reading on grade level by third grade.

The Jungle Bus

Success By 6, in partnership with the Troup County School System, The Rotary Club of LaGrange, Get Troup Reading and other community organizations, the Jungle Bus came into being. A refurbished Blue Bird school bus became the Jungle Bus where “Reading is an Adventure”! The Jungle Bus driven by Jungle Jama and her sidekick Reading Ranger travel throughout Troup County making stops at Early Care and Learning Centers, schools, apartment complexes, community events and almost anywhere they are invited. Mama Jama is often seen with the Jungle Bus as well. Children are encouraged to board the bus and pick out their own book to keep. Children and parents alike are thrilled when they see the Jungle Bus coming!

Book Distributions

We continued our partnership with First Book to order various age appropriate new books at a highly-discounted rate. To advance early literacy, we partnered with Troup County School System to provide books to three local pediatrician offices, the WIC office and Babies Can’t Wait. In addition to these books, the local Rotary Club continued its tradition of raising funds to distribute a book to every child in a state-funded lottery Pre-K class. We’re always looking for more ways to share books with as many children as possible!

BLOCKS

BLOCKS is another fairly new early learning partner. As an outgrowth of the Magnolia Society, Women’s Leadership Council. BLOCKS is a resource for parents and educators alike to find local and digital resources. BLOCKS was also instrumental in getting the book, Your Child’s First Teacher IS You, by local author Miriam Lukken. For information on how to obtain a copy of this wonderful resource, call 706-884-8292.

LITTLE FREE LIBRARIES

Success By 6 is also involved with some of the Little Free Libraries around town like this one donated by Publix Supermarket. It is located in front of Bank of America across from the movie theater. Here anyone is free to pick out a book to keep or drop off books they have read.