Learning Starts Early, Inc.®

Learning Starts Early: Helping Preschoolers Prepare 
for Kindergarten and Beyond

Learning Starts Early is committed to preparing every preschool-aged child in Fauquier County to meet challenges in kindergarten and beyond. The 501(c)(3) works with Fauquier County Public Schools and local private preschools to provide tuition assistance to local private preschools for eligible children in Fauquier County. To learn more about how Learning Starts Early is making a difference for local preschoolers, visit https://www.learningstartsearly.org/about-5.

LSE’s Reading Buddies program, which began in 2016, provides readers for classrooms at Central, Mary Walter Elementary School and H. M. Pearson Elementary School. The children look forward to having the Reading Buddies come to their classrooms and many request favorite books be reread again and again.

LSE has provided supplies for the county’s Virginia Preschool Initiative Program (VPI) and books and activity kits for preschoolers in conjunction with the Fauquier FRESH summer programs.

Some History

The origins of Learning Starts Early can be traced back to early 2013 when a committee was formed by the Rev. Benjamin Maas, Rector, and parishioners of St. James’ Episcopal Church, Warrenton, to investigate the needs of the community and the resources of the parish to determine how the church could begin an outreach program to meet the perceived needs.  The committee discovered that one in five children in Fauquier County could not meet basic kindergarten readiness standards.  

In 2015, as the committee was expanding its work in preschool education, it decided to change its name from “Ready for Kindergarten and Beyond,” to “Learning Starts Early” (LSE).  LSE created its signature fundraising event, a pre-Thanksgiving race through Warrenton known as the Gobble, Gobble, Run or Wobble 5K. Generous private donations along with the successful race allowed LSE to establish a charitable fund with the Northern Piedmont Community Foundation in Warrenton. In the spring of 2019, became a full-fledged nonprofit corporation with 501(c)(3) status, increasing its capacity to reach a broader audience in the county and to touch more children’s lives.  Our main focus continues to be providing tuition assistance for eligible prekindergarten children to attend high quality private preschools throughout Fauquier County.  Our tax-exempt status allows LSE to apply for grants from other local or regional charitable foundations, such as Northern Piedmont Community Foundation and the PATH Foundation. In Fauquier County, nearly 1 in 5 children entering kindergarten do not meet the reading readiness benchmarks established by the state. Often they never catch up. These children are at a much greater risk of being unskilled and facing difficult obstacles in life, which is detrimental to the individuals and society.

Additionally, approximately 20% of children entering kindergarten in Fauquier County Public Schools last year did not attend any formal or institutional pre-kindergarten program or were in the care of an unlicensed childcare provider. A substantial body of research spanning decades proves that high quality preschool education can substantially improve the learning and development of all young children, and especially children from low income families, children whose parents lack high school diplomas, or children without homes.

Local programs benefitting at-risk kids of pre-school age:

• Fauquier Community Action Committee's (FCAC) Head Start
• Fauquier County Public School's (FCPS) Virginia Preschool Initiative
• Head Start and the Virginia Preschool Initiative work together to coordinate services to best serve their students and families. Both have substantial funding needs in order to provide the highest quality preschool education.

Learning Starts Early has helped fund or is involved with: 

• Increasing the number of Virginia Preschool Initiative classrooms
• Classroom lay readers
• Parent resource programs
• Classroom materials, including educational technology to enhance traditional instruction
• Private preschool scholarships
• Before and after-school daycare for working families
• Field trips and other important special learning experiences
• The Fauquier Preschool Coalition