Kidworks Community Development Corporation

College & career & family & community engagement:family & community engagement builds and develops leaders who give back and serve their community. At kidworks we believe parents are the first educators of their children, and in order for children to succeed, parents must be engaged and supported. Kidworks offers a variety of classes and workshops led by experts in the field in the areas of child development, health and nutrition, personal development, finance, and more to provide further education for parents. Parents and community members are provided with referrals and resources to better support their families. Using the strengths of central santa ana, parents work alongside community partners to make the neighborhoods surrounding kidworks a better place. Kidworks' parents participate in educational opportunities, in leadership groups, such as the parent advisory council (pac), program activities, larger community events, and community service hours/projects. Kidworks parent advisory council (pac) is a highly active group of parent leaders who meet on a consistent basis to identify and discuss issues facing the community, and devise strategies to overcome those challenges. The group also speaks into kidworks programs, provide feedback, and plan events for parents in the community. College and career services were offered to youth and young adults (program alumni.) services include college readiness workshops, college application support, college visitations, career exploration, college support, internship support and more. In 2023-2024, we had 17 12th grade students and 41% of them joined kidworks in preschool. 100% of 12th grade students graduated on-time and 100% of high school seniors enrolled in post-secondary education. Colleges include santa ana college, irvine valley college, orange coast college, cal state fullerton, cal state long beach, fresno state, uc riverside, uc san diego, uc santa cruz, and vanguard university. In addition, out of the 91 program alumni enrolled in our college cohort/success program, 72% persisted in college or to their next level of post-secondary education. Finally, 18 students completed their program: 13 students received their bachelor's degree within 6 years of high school graduation, 3 students received their associate's degree, and 2 students completed a vocational program.

Preschool:kidworks cdc operates a licensed state preschool serving 48 students; providing on-site learning for 2.9-5-year old children. The children served are below or within the 85% state median income. Annually, kidworks participates in the child and adult care food program (cacfp) for 100% of our students at no cost to the families. The primary goal is a successful transition from preschool to transitional kindergarten or kindergarten for every child and family. 91% of kidworks' preschool students were assessed as transitional kinder or kindergarten-ready by the end of the school year. Our preschool program is part of the qualitystart oc, which provides kidworks with a grant, free training, and technical assistance during the school year as we strive to provide a high quality early learning environment. We partner with pbs socal and startwell as well to enhance our programming.