About Thrive in 5

Thrive in 5, the result of a community planning process, provides a city-wide vision and 10-year plan for Boston to ensure that every child enters Kindergarten ready to succeed in school and in life.

A child's success relies on good health, positive early childhood experiences, and strong families. Therefore, we're building a city-wide movement - bringing together young children's families, early care and education providers, health and human service providers, and the city - to work in new ways, across traditional sectors and systems, that will more effectively and efficiently support the healthy development and school readiness of our children.

Our approach is illustrated by the following equation that recognizes children's success relies on the concerted effort of everyone involved in their lives:

Boston's School Readiness Equation

Our community-developed plan, Boston's School Readiness Roadmap, contains the goals and strategies we're implementing to transform the way Boston works to support our youngest children and their families.

Who We Are

Our Team

Our Leadership Council

Our Implementation Partnerships

Our Funding Partners

Our History

Throughout 2007, a cross-sector, diverse 65-person team of professionals and 35 parents met to create Thrive in 5, a 10 year action plan to achieve universal school readiness and prevent the school readiness gap in Boston. This effort was convened jointly by Mayor Menino and United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley.

Sandra Fenwick, Chief Operating Officer of Children's Hospital Boston, and Jackie Jenkins-Scott, President of Wheelock College, chaired the planning process, which also engaged 300 Boston leaders and residents through focus groups and community meetings.

Thrive in 5's planning was informed by a report to the Mayor from a 12-person team of top early childhood researchers and practitioners that identified the most effective strategies for promoting school readiness.