A small child looks at the camera while a woman holds a toy behind him.

Strengthening quality. Building relationships.
Increasing access. Engaging families.

A girl with braids looks at something in her hand.
Of students in our region arrived at kindergarten without key skills.43%*

Ready Region Blue Ridge

United Way of Greater Charlottesville is proud to have been selected as the lead organization for Ready Region Blue Ridge. As a Ready Regions lead organization, we are part of a statewide network bringing strategic leadership and coordination of early childhood care and education (ECCE) services and resources to prepare all children and families for success. Ready Regions focused on:

Strengthening quality. We will ensure all components are in place to coordinate quality measurement and guide improvement in publicly funded classrooms as part of VQB5.

Building relationships. We will engage with leaders across the region to facilitate buy-in for shared accountability and benefit.

Increasing access. We will administer Mixed Delivery programming in the region, and coordinate enrollment to help parents learn about and access ECCE programs that meet their needs and preferences, while helping ECCE providers connect with families.

Engaging families. We will support a Family Council, made up of families from across our region who reflect the diversity of our region, to ensure the early childhood system is designed to work for families.

Our Initiatives

Strengthening
Quality

Coordinating quality measurement
and guiding classroom improvement.

Increasing
Access

Building and strengthening better processes for parents and providers.

Building
Relationships

Engaging with leaders across the region
for accountability and benefit.

Engaging
Families

Establishing and strengthening strategies to ensure family engagement.

View of Smoky Mountains from Blue Ridge Parkway

About Our Region

Ready Region Blue Ridge oversees approximately 45,000 children under the age of five, many of whom lack access to high-quality care. Our region’s teachers and publicly funded sites worked with Ready Region Blue Ridge, its partners, the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation, and the Virginia Department of Education to undertake Practice Year Two of the new Unified Virginia Quality Birth to Five System.

Get the Latest Updates

To receive early education updates from Ready Region Blue Ridge and around the Commonwealth, please subscribe.

Recent News

Check out our Ready Region blog to learn more about what’s happening in the Ready Region Blue Ridge.

The 2025-2026 Go2Grow application is now open to help families in the Blue Ridge region explore, compare, and apply for free or reduced-cost care and education programs for children from birth to age 5.

The 2025-2026 Go2Grow Application is now Open!

Jan 27, 2025 The early childhood care and preschool Go2Grow application for the… Read

We Held the First Annual Ready Region Blue Ridge Leadership Summit

Jan 16, 2025 Ready Region Blue Ridge hosted the first annual Leadership Summit… Read

Virginia Quality Birth to Five (VQB5) Profiles Are Live

Oct 17, 2024 Families can now search local early childhood education and care… Read

If you are interested in financially supporting Ready Region Blue Ridge or becoming a Ready Region partner, please contact our team for more information.

Childcare slots
needed to bridge the
gap between the
need, available slots,
and access to child-
care across Ready
Region.
8,102**