Excel By 5 (EB5) is an innovative early childhood community certification process focusing on a community’s young children. It emphasizes the important roles parents and early childhood educators play in the lives of children during their most formative years – birth to age 5. The community is invited to participate in EB5. We have committees for Parent Engagement, Education, Community & Business, and Health. It takes ALL of us to have a “Child-Friendly” Community.

Recognizing the importance of early childhood, The W serves as the Columbus-Lowndes EB5 Community Partner and the Create Foundation serves as the fiscal partner. At The W, the work of EB5 is housed within the Center for Education Support’s Office of Early Childhood, which is part of the Wise Start Project. This partnership enables us to collaborate with the community to develop stronger early education centers, creating more pathways and increasing understanding of early childhood health and special needs, and ensuring community support for our youngest children. The School of Education recognizes that all learning begins at birth, and these partnerships foster stronger schools, families, and communities for the future. This work breaks down silos to create a collaborative coalition environment for change. We are proud to support our coalition’s success.

The full EB5 coalition meets quarterly at the PHILL (Phil Hardin Innovative Learning Lab) on the first floor of the EDHS building at The W. Follow our social media for dates.

Excel by 5 Event Photos