At an event celebrating a year of accomplishments of the Mayor’s Fund for Education, Mayor Robert Garcia announced the launch of a new program to provide universal access to quality early childhood education, ReadyRosie.

Sponsored by Boeing and the first of its kind in Long Beach, the program will be launched district-wide across each Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) preschool, a handful of private preschool providers and within each Long Beach Public Library branch, according to the release.

Held Thursday evening at the Queen Mary, Garcia was joined at the event by Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) Superintendent Chris Steinhauser, LBUSD Board of Education President, Megan Kerr, Boeing Global Engagement Manager, Vanessa Smith, Long Beach elected officials and other education partners who spoke on the benefits of the program.

“Investing in quality early education is one of the most effective ways to increase high school graduation and college success,” said Garcia in a statement. “Helping equip parents and care-givers with the resources to teach their children early reading and STEM skills will make sure that all children have an opportunity to succeed in school, regardless their family’s of socio-economic status.”

ReadyRosie provides an online platform that lets parents and families consistently engage in their children’s learning. Available in English and Spanish and accessible by email or text message, the program provides a self-directed digital platform for activities, best practices and curated content to engage children in developmentally-appropriate learning, according to the release.

“We at ReadyRosie are thrilled to bring the program to Long Beach,” said ReadyRosie founder Emily Roden in a statement. “We have been impressed with the unique approach of having a community partner like the Mayor’s Fund for Education, focused on partnering with a variety of education providers, administer the program. I’m confident the program will yield great benefits in a City as collaborative as this one.”

ReadyRosie will be offered to Pre-K students during its pilot year, while discussions are underway to expand the program to grades K thru 5 and to make the program available in Khmer.

“LBUSD is thankful to have collaborative partners like the Mayor’s Fund for Education,” Kerr said in a statement. “Helping all children become kindergarten-ready and supporting family-engagement not only sets students on a trajectory for success, but also helps our teachers build upon a strong foundation of skills. We couldn’t be more excited about the ReadyRosie program coming to Long Beach and for the benefit it will offer to all our families.”

For more information on the Mayor’s Fund for Education and ReadyRosie, including a list of participating sites, please visit the website here .