MNPS previews 'Grow Together' birth-to-3 initiative: website, playbook, care bags and text messaging pilots

Marisha Bonifacio, community outreach coordinator in Metro Nashville Public Schoolss Early Learning Department, presented the districts Grow Together birth-to-3 initiative and early community outreach work.

Bonifacio said the initiative grew from a 2022 committee process and community input and now centers on five core strategies aimed at supporting families with children from birth to age 3: a centralized website and resource hub, playdate and child development courses, family text-messaging services, care bags distributed through community events, and expanded home-visit or televisit options with local providers.

She said the Grow Together site (referred to in the presentation as the BRRRRT23/Grow Together site) launched about a year earlier and had "about 14,000 page views," a figure she said was from several months prior and may be higher now. The initiative plans a multilingual quarterly newsletter (more than 100 families registered to date), pilot playdates and roughly 350 care bags to distribute in the coming spring through community events.

Bonifacio emphasized partnerships with local organizations such as the public library and the Hispanic Family Foundation, and said the team is exploring text-messaging services (English and Spanish to start) in partnership with community vendors and the Governors Early Literacy Foundation to deliver short developmental tips to families in the 0-3 age range.

The presenter said a short playbook will be circulated and community meetings will follow; she offered to share detailed materials with Commission members and partners.

The presentation capped with an offer to share the playbook and to coordinate community meetings for those interested in learning more.