(June 2010) 
R2LP Director Leslie Gell has been appointed by Governor Carcieri to the newly formed Rhode Island Early Learning Council.
The Council, the governor explained in his letter, will “strengthen [the state’s] early education system for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers to better prepare them for entry to kindergarten.”
The Early Learning Council, he said, “will provide an important mechanism for reducing the existing fragmentation across our current early care and education systems and programs. It will seek to align resources to support high-quality early care and education services to young children, and to improve coordination and collaboration among multiple agencies, organizations, and programs.”
Deborah A. Gist, commissioner of education, and Elizabeth Burke Bryant, executive director of Rhode Island KIDS COUNT, will co-chair the Council, which will meet quarterly. Its first meeting is scheduled for late June.
