Marquette-Alger Great Start Collaborative

The vision of the Great Start initiative is: Children are born healthy; Children are healthy, thriving, and developmentally on track from birth to third grade; Children are developmentally ready to succeed in school at the time of school entry; & Children are prepared to succeed in fourth grade and beyond by reading proficiently by the end of third grade. The Great Start system envisions a single, interconnected and intertwined network of public and private services and supports working together in a community to accomplish better results for young children and families. As with any system, there are both key programmatic components, and also infrastructure elements that ensure coordination and sustainability.

The purpose of Great Start Collaborative is to assure a coordinated system of community resources and supports to assist all Michigan families in providing a great start for their children from birth through age eight.