Dr. Searcy of Prince George's County Public Schools urged county agencies to allow vendors to pursue DPIE reviews in parallel with school approvals and to accept school UNO/fire-inspection certificates so before-and-after programs can enroll families by the first day of school.

Amanda Rickard presented the 2025 school quality profile: 78% of district schools are 'distinguished' or 'meeting expectations' (state average 70%), seven schools were identified as TSI (six due to the students‑with‑disabilities subgroup), and 96% of schools increased their overall framework score year‑over‑year.

The city of York has successfully implemented a potty-training scheme for children before they start school, resulting in a significant reduction in the number of children not fully toilet-trained upon entry to reception classes. Following this success, 20 local authorities across England have committed to adopting York's model, which includes providing parents with training guides, workshops, and support through various community channels such as GP surgeries, pharmacies, family hubs, schools, and nurseries. The pilot scheme, developed by the children's charity Kindred Squared, saw a 43% drop in the number of children not toilet-trained when starting school, from 11% to 6% in York's 55 mainstream primary schools. Parents like Natalie and Lucy have welcomed the initiative, noting the importance of children being confident and independent in using the toilet before starting school. The government has set a target of 75% of pupils reaching a good level of development by 2028, which includes toilet-training as a key component of school readiness. Teachers, such as Jo Mould from Robert Wilkinson Primary Academy, have reported that children are now more settled and ready to learn, with less time spent on toilet-related issues. The scheme's success has been attributed to collaboration between health visitors, schools, and community settings, though there remains a need for earlier support for parents. The initiative aims to address the fact that around one in four children in England and Wales started school last year without being fully toilet-trained, requiring teachers to spend over an hour daily changing nappies. The expansion of this scheme to 20 new areas represents a significant step in improving school readiness and reducing the burden on teachers.

HCAI's CalRx program will supply free back-to-school kits — two albuterol inhalers and 25 disposable spacers — to every public and charter TK–12 school in California for up to three years, plus free training for districts and schools.

Administration presented a five‑phase WJCC United transition roadmap (anticipation, awareness, connections, readiness, belonging) to guide family engagement, employee transitions, operational readiness, and student welcome activities if new attendance boundaries are approved.

We’ve compiled a list of books for K–3 students that can support school readiness and get kids excited about heading to school.

To cover staffing shortages at the start of the school year, the board approved temporary contracts with Illumina and Princeton Staffing for speech and social-work support and funding for three board-certified behavior analysts, totaling up to roughly $894,360 across vendors.