Early care and education programs play a critical role in nurturing children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development. High quality early learning programs promote school readiness and success in all aspects of life.
of children 0-5 live in families where all parents work
Only
of child care need is met for children 0-2
Quality matters in early care and education. Programs that participate in continuous quality improvement efforts are more likely to prepare students for success in school and beyond. Children who participate in high-quality early childhood education programs show long-term, positive impacts on their ability to learn and interact with the world around them.
First 5 supports quality improvement efforts throughout the county’s early care and education field, and works to improve families’ access to high quality programs, including for children with special needs.
Build Up is a collaborative initiative to address the county’s significant child care facilities shortage. Build Up engages local governments, businesses, and other partners to create and preserve much-needed child care programs.
Through Quality Counts San Mateo County, SMCOE supports early learning quality improvement efforts, providing coaching, training, incentives, and other supports to participating center-based and family childcare early learning programs.
Subcontractor: 4Cs of San Mateo County
As a close partner in First 5’s quality care and education efforts, SMCOE’s Early Childhood Quality and Inclusion Project helps early learning providers create inclusive environments through capacity building and quality improvement efforts. The initiative also supports families of children with special needs to find appropriate programs.
Subcontractors and partners: 4Cs of San Mateo County, StarVista, Community Equity Collaborative, Child Care Partnership Council, Build UP, The Big Lift, Good2Know Network, IHSD- Institute and Human and Social Development EHS/Head Start, Early Childhood Language Development Institute, Lifesteps Foundation, Abilitypath
© 2024 First 5 San Mateo County
Kitty Lopez has served as the Executive Director of First 5 San Mateo County since 2013, focusing on strategic investing, community leadership, policy and advocacy development for young children, 0-5, and their families.
Kitty has served as Co-Chair of the Advisory Body for Build Up for San Mateo County Children’s Initiative, with Board of Supervisor, Dave Pine, since 2018. Congressman Kevin Mullin is Honorary Co-Chair. This initiative was established to preserve, grow, and increase the number of early care sites in San Mateo County.
Kitty previously served as the Executive Director of Samaritan House, one of San Mateo County’s leading Core Service Agencies and safety-net nonprofits serving low-income families and individuals with food, shelter, clothing, health care, counseling, education classes, and holiday assistance from 2002 to 2013.
Kitty taught kindergarten, second grade, and high school in southern California and San Francisco and was a consultant in schools with children who have autism and special needs. Additionally, Kitty worked in a residential substance abuse treatment center in San Francisco and psychiatric hospital for children and youth in San Diego. Kitty’s roots in supporting children began as a 16-year-old volunteer at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles where she taught swimming to children and adults with visual impairments.
She attended University of California Santa Barbara earning a California Teaching Credential and B.A in Psychology. Kitty is active in her community serving as Vice Chair of the San Mateo County Event Center, and Past President and Current Member of the San Mateo Rotary Club. She is currently serving as Past President of the First 5 Association of California. On March 2022, Assembly Speaker pro Tem Kevin Mullin selected Kitty Lopez as the 2022 Assembly District 22 Woman of the Year.
