Action for Early Learning (AFEL)
is the Early Childhood Education Strategy for the West Philly Promise Neighborhood supporting children and families entering kindergarten, so that all West Philly children are ready to succeed.
About AFEL
The West Philadelphia Action for Early Learning Initiative (AFEL) is a Drexel University-led collaboration of community stakeholders, social service and education agencies working together to improve equitable access to quality early childhood education (ECE) and support parents and caregivers as their child’s first teachers. AFEL is the early childhood education improvement strategy for the West Philadelphia Promise Neighborhood Initiative. Its long-term goals for West Philadelphia children are 1) Kindergarten Readiness and 2) Reading at Grade Level by the End of Third Grade so that children can be successful in school and beyond. To achieve these goals, AFEL partners with several organizations to improve the quality of early childhood education options through the AFEL Alliance of Childcare Providers and to promote awareness in the community around the importance of high quality ECE, what high quality ECE looks like, and how to access it through the AFEL Family Ambassador Program.
AFEL’s Five-Year Report: Strengthening Children and Families through Circles of Support details the process, challenges, and accomplishments that have taken AFEL from a small early childhood education quality improvement program to a place-based community-change initiative in West Philadelphia. Read the Full Report or the Executive Summary.
AFEL's Partners include:
Acknowledgement:
Funding for this multi-year initiative is made possible through support from several foundations, including the Lenfest Foundation, PNC Grow Up Great, United Way, US Department of Education, Vanguard Strong Start for Kids, and William Penn Foundation and the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL).
For more information about AFEL, please contact AFEL Project Director Maria Walker, afel@drexel.edu
