What is Jumpstart

Jumpstart is a leading national nonprofit organization working toward the day every child in America enters school prepared to succeed. The Center for Internships & Community Engagement launched the Jumpstart program in Fall 2003 at Cal State Fullerton. Jumpstart Fullerton is a collaborative service-learning program between the Center for Internships & Community Engagement and the Child and Adolescent Studies Department.

Jumpstart Fullerton is an AmeriCorps program that pairs college students, called Corps members, with preschool children to build language, literacy, and social skills necessary to succeed not just in school, but also in life. As a Corps member, you will:

• Earn academic course credit in the Child and Adolescent Studies Department
• Gain professional training in the field of early childhood education
• Provide one-to-one mentoring twice a week to a child
• Earn your Work-Study award
• Work on a team of peers to serve the local community
• Earn an education award up to $1,132
• Make a difference in a child’s life!

Get Involved

There is a social readiness crisis in America, largely due to a disparity in early learning experiences. A report by the Packard and MacArhur foundations found that the average child growing up in a middle-class family has been exposed to between 1,000 and 1,700 hours of one-to-one picture book reading. The average child growing up in a low-income family has only been exposed to 25 hours of one-to-one reading (McQuillan, 1998). Jumpstart helps to provide preschoolers with access to high-quality preschool experiences that promote language and literacy skills to prepare them for later school success.

Each year, one in three children enters kindergarten without the language, literacy, and social skills to succeed. With Jumpstart, you can help close this gap.

Apply now.

To apply for the program or if you have any further questions, please contact

Jo’ie Taylor, Program Coordinator
Phone: (657) 278-4406
Email: jodtaylor@fullerton.edu