Virginia Beach GrowSmart

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Virginia Beach, VA
Virginia Beach GrowSmart

GrowSmart is the City of Virginia Beach's early learning effort. GrowSmart is the City of Virginia Beach's early childhood education initiative.

We provide information and resources for parents & educators of young children, ages 0-8. 2013 "Outstanding Achievement in Local Government Innovation" (Alliance for Innovation) We strive to ensure every child in Virginia Beach will be born healthy; enter kindergarten ready to learn; and continue to read proficiently through third grade, establishing a strong foundation for success in school and in life. Virginia Beach GrowSmart exists to promote and improve the healthy development, school readiness, and reading proficiency of young children, ages 0-8. We provide resources for parents and caregivers through a variety of events, trainings, and article shares. In addition to providing resources for parents and families, GrowSmart offers programming to ensure the availability of high-quality early education and to promote reading proficiency by third grade. Some of GrowSmart's programming includes: Early Education Small Business Training Program, Provider Training series, Virginia Beach Reads, Virginia Quality initiative, and a few other events for children and families.

07/10/2026

Early childhood and elementary educators: Do not miss this FREE professional development opportunity.

Grow Smart in partnership with Parks & Recreation is bringing Conscious Discipline training to Central Library on Aug. 20. This free, full-day workshop helps educators strengthen relationships, support social-emotional learning and build safe, connected classrooms.

Only 90 spots are available to the public. Register today to save your reserve your seat: https://bit.ly/44VxMgG
Read more: https://bit.ly/4vjxtXO

03/06/2026

What an incredible Read Across America Day 2026 in Virginia Beach! 📚 💫

We were honored to welcome author whose book Bears Make the Best Reading Buddies was featured for this year’s celebration. Sharing the joy of reading with our young learners made the day truly special!

We were also grateful to have members of board stop by to greet some of our amazing readers, including Mayor Bobby Dyer, Vice Mayor Rosemary Wilson, Councilman Cash Jackson- Green, and Housing Director Ruth Hill, and many other amazing and dedicated community leaders.

Thank you to our incredible community partners and sponsors - who help make events like this possible. Together, we’re inspiring a love of reading in Virginia Beach- one story at a time 📚 🌟

Anthem Health Keepers Plus
Square One

01/15/2026

✨We’re gearing up for 2026 Read Across America Day ✨

Read Across America Day remains a signature Virginia Beach GrowSmart program, proudly supported by and we couldn’t be more excited!

Join on Friday, March 6, 2026, as we celebrate the love of literacy with our incredible childcare centers across Virginia Beach. We’re especially thrilled to welcome author Carmen Oliver, who will help make this day truth unforgettable!

A heartfelt thank you to our amazing sponsors whose support makes this magical day of literacy possible:

Stay tuned for more event details coming soon!

07/28/2025

Community Investment!

Last Tuesday, we had the pleasure of connecting with Sonya Moore, Area Manager of Mathnasium Pembroke. We are grateful to all the Mathnasium in Virginia Beach for coming together and choosing Virginia Beach GrowSmart as their featured nonprofit of the month.

We truly appreciate the opportunity and look forward to collaborating with Mathnasium on future educational projects.

06/25/2025

Meet Our Incredible LENA Start Instructors‼️

Teresa Hunt, Stacey O’Donnell, and Amy Borden are the powerhouse team behind our LENA Start program- helping parents and children build strong brains through rich, back-and-forth conversations.

Each of these dedicated educators commits 10 weeks per cohort to deliver hands-on, high quality session that empower parents and set their children on the path to lifelong success.

GrowSmart is truly grateful for their passion and commitment to early childhood education!

Interested in joining our next LENA Start session?

Send us a DM😀

06/18/2025

ANNOUNCEMENT 📣 🚨

Meet our New GrowSmart Coordinator 😀

Josetta Thomae, PhD is a clinical service provider, educator, and systems strategist with 20 years of experience supporting youth and families across early intervention, public education, and juvenile justice settings.

She holds a PhD in Infant and Early Childhood Development with an emphasis in mental health, developmental disorders, and reflective supervision. Josetta currently serves as the Chairperson for the Eastern Chapter of the Virginia Association of Infant Mental Health and is a steering committee member of the Hampton Roads Trauma Informed Care Network.

A passionate advocate for equity and trauma-informed systems, she has provided training across disciplines on early development, inclusive practices, and resilience-building strategies.

She brings both deep field experience and a collaborative spirit to her work transforming systems of care for children and families and is thrilled to serve as the new GrowSmart Coordinator.

05/30/2025

We’re passionate about being out in the community and helping families connect with early childhood education resources.

If you’re hosting an upcoming outreach event that aligns with our mission, send us a DM- we’d love to join and share valuable information with families.

05/16/2025

🎓CONGRATS to our LENA Start Graduates 🎓

After 10 weeks of dedication and consistency, we’re thrilled to celebrate our amazing parents and kiddos who are now one step closer to long-term educational success.

The early years are the most critical for brain development, and our participants have shown incredible commitment to nurturing their children’s growth during this formative time. 👏

We applaud each of you for staying focused on building strong foundations for lifelong learning‼️

If you’re interested in our summer cohort, feel free to DM us.

A heartfelt thank you to our partners and funders:

05/07/2025

LENA Start is gearing up for our Summer Session

Want to boost your child’s early brain development through the power of early talk? 🧠 🗣️👼

This FREE program is open to families with children ages 0-4!

Special thank you to our amazing partners

Programs like LENA Start that promote early childhood development and long-term success would not be possible without the support of

DM for more program details.

04/26/2025

LET US SEE IF YOU CAN RUN IT?!! 🔥🔥🎽🏃‍♂️💨

2025 Celebrating Children was an epic success this year!!

4K+ Attendance, 65+ Resource Vendors, 60* Volunteers, and so much more!

Stay Tuned for our Impact Report

Special Thank you to all resource exhibitors who attended the event and connected families 👏👏

Special Thank You to CAPT Marchesi for coming out and showing love to our military children. We appreciate the one and only Dr. Pedati for sharing the importance of healthy families and children development.

We appreciate for sponsoring the sandwiches 🥪 😋.

Special recognition to all our performers:

We appreciate our partnerships that made this possible:

Major Shoutout and Appreciation to our Sponsors that made this event possible:

We’ll see you next year!

Address

4525 Main Street, Ste 700
Virginia Beach, VA
23462

Website

http://www.vbgrowsmart.com/

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