The Children and Families Commission of Orange County established the School Readiness Initiative in 2000 to fund school readiness services in every elementary and unified school district. Services include School Readiness Coordinator(s) and School Readiness Nurse(s) in every Orange County school district. Early Learning Specialists (ELS) District Early Learning Specialists (formerly known as School Readiness Coordinators) work with school staff, families, community stakeholders, and the early care and education community to identify service gaps, promote best practices, and provide quality early education and intervention services children, ages 0-5, within their district area. These Early Learning Specialists are increasing the capacity in their community to offer services to children ages 0-5 and their families.  They are working with local preschool providers to improve the children’s school readiness by aligning curriculum and connecting centers with parent education, health and social services providers. Each school district offers early learning services to young children and their families. These services vary by district and may include: Preschool,  parent and child classes in early literacy and math, speech intervention, social/emotional development,  free books, readiness materials, and at-home activities. Please click the link below for a roster and contact information for the ELS at each of Orange County's school districts.  CFCOC ELS Roster.pdf   For ELS Use Only: Please use the forms below for Training and Technical Assistance expenses.  T TA Expenditure Pre-Approval Form.doc  T & TA Expenditure Claim Form.pdf​   For more information on the Local School Readiness Initiative, please contact Cinda Muckenthaler, School Readiness Program Manager, by email at cjmuckenthaler@socal.rr.com​ ​School Readiness Nurses (SRN) SRN services Include screening children, ages 0-5, in 7 different health areas: Vision,  Hearing,  Ht/Wt/BMI,  Dental, Health Status, Developmental, Immunizations ·      Providing referrals and follow-up ·      Screening children for health insurance and primary health provider ·      Providing health education classes to children, parents, and  preschool staff ·      Providing education on nutrition and physical exercise ·      Providing outreach services to teen moms, foster children, and 0-5 homeless ·      Identifying children with special needs in the community Please click the link below for a roster and contact information for the SRN for each of Orange County's school districts.    2010-2011 SRN Roster​ For more information on the School Nurse Initiative, please contact Jennifer Burrell, School Readiness Program Manager, by email at jburrell@socal.rr.com​