Excel by Five: An Early Childhood Development Program

Mississippi First Lady Marsha Barbour joined early childhood development experts and Chevron to launch Excel by Five, a community-based educational program designed to improve a child’s overall well-being by age 5. Funded with a $650,000 grant from Chevron, the program will be piloted in Cleveland, West Point, Petal and Pascagoula.

Excel by Five sets forth a variety of standards, including parent training, community participation, child care and health, to help communities focus on supporting pre-kindergarten children and their families. The program certification process also identifies available resources and existing best practices to help Excel by Five–certified communities reach the goal that their children be ready to learn when they start school at age 5.

Although Excel by Five was developed by a collaborative effort of numerous state and private organizations, Mrs. Barbour also recognized that Chevron initiated the program concept three years ago and then provided leadership to organize and develop the program.

The Phil Hardin Foundation of Meridian, with a $35,000 contribution, is also providing funding to conduct the two-year pilot program. Excel by Five, with its strong emphasis on community volunteerism, challenges leaders to examine the state of early childhood education and care in their communities and then to apply specific standards to make improvements.

Chevron and the Phil Hardin Foundation awarded the pilot-program grants to Mississippi State University’s National Center for Rural Early Childhood Learning Initiatives, which will manage the Excel by Five program and evaluate it as a possible statewide program. Center director, Cathy Grace, Ed.D., and her staff, who worked with Chevron and a diverse volunteer work group of early childhood service providers to develop the program, will provide on-the-ground support to help the four communities during the certification process.

Mrs. Barbour said Excel by Five’s success will be ultimately determined by community support and participation. "Early childhood programs are key to preparing our children to learn, thrive and become productive citizens. Fundamental to success, however, is the involvement of parents, families, educators, caregivers, employers, social service organizations, and the public and private sectors," she said. "Supporting young children in a thoughtful and caring way could be the most important thing any of us will ever do. That’s how critical it is. If we all work together, we can get this right."