Newport Independent Schools and the United Way of Greater Cincinnati announced Wednesday that they will work together to help preschool children get ready for school.

The United Way has chosen Newport's Early Childhood Initiative to be part of the United Way's Success BY 6 long-term, early childhood effort.

Newport is the first school district in Campbell County to become involved in Success BY 6.

"All the partners in our early childhood initiative are excited and grateful for the support that Success BY 6 provides," Newport School Superintendent Michael Brandt said.

"This partnership opens up a national network of resources and knowledge which will prove invaluable in our efforts to ensure every Newport child is ready for school when they first walk in the kindergarten door."

United Way of Greater Cincinnati Director for Northern Kentucky Leshia Lyman called the Newport Early Childhood Initiative a shining example of what can be done through partnership and cooperation.

"The work that has been done here in Newport stands as a model to be copied across other school districts both regionally and nationally," she said.

The first priority of the new collaborators will be to raise awareness of how important early childhood development is, as well as the services available through the Early Childhood Initiative.

They include:

Home visitation services for families with children 5 and under.

The school district is funding the Brighton Center, a Newport social services agency, to hire two parents to deliver the "Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters" program to families with children 3 to 5. The district is also paying two Brighton Center employees to deliver the "Parents as Teachers" curriculum to parents of children 3 and under.

A second half-day of preschool services for 4-year-olds and some 3-year-olds.

The district renovated and made space available in one of its buildings to Children Inc., a Covington-based agency that provides early childhood education services, to run the program.

St. Paul's Church, a longtime provider of preschool services in Newport, merged its operations with Children Inc. to tap into United Way funding and achieve efficiencies of scale.