County to host El Jebel meeting on early childhood development

The Eagle County commissioners will host a meeting in El Jebel on Thursday about early-childhood development.

The public is invited to participate in the discussion why early-childhood development is important and how it affects communities. The status of early-childhood development in Eagle County will be discussed as well as how other communities have addressed the issue.

The meeting will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Eagle County office building and community center in El Jebel. There will be a panel discussion featuring David Hammond of Executives Partnering to Invest in Children; Thomas Davidson, Summit County commissioner; Melissa Taucher of the Colorado Department of Education’s Colorado Preschool Program; and Shirley Ritter of Kids First in Aspen.

The Aspen-Parachute Cradle to Career Initiative’s Ready for Kindergarten Action Team recently identified El Jebel and Basalt as the area of the region with the highest unmet child care and early-education needs, according to Cradle to Career Director John Bennett. He said Eagle County’s discussion is a timely one.

The community discussion is free and open to all.

This is the third in a series of community meetings held by Eagle County on topics affecting the Eagle Valley and Roaring Fork Valley. The previous events focused on affordable housing and climate change.