‘I think big’: Emily Klonicki works to give every Rockford child the tools to succeed in the classrom

Stateline Status Check | Emily Klonicki

Stateline Status Check is a feature that checks in with community leaders and newsmakers to update you on the progress they’ve made on various initiatives and what they see next on the horizon. 

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — Emily Klonicki envisions a community where every parent builds literacy into the daily life of their child.

She wants all parents to understand the benefits of reading, singing and talking to their children. And she wants families and caregivers to have “the support that they need right from the beginning,” she said. “So that our community has a common language with which they talk about and approach life with a young child.”

Klonicki, a Rockford native and 1999 Lutheran High School graduate, brings those bold goals to her new leadership role with Alignment Rockford. The former assistant director and head of youth and information services for the Rockford Public Library took over as executive director of the nonprofit student achievement organization in mid-January.

She takes over the organization as it shifts its focus to early childhood learning afters its previous work on college and career readiness was absorbed by Rockford Public Schools.

“It’s kind of a new start and this is our focus,” Klonicki said. “So it’s a really nice time for me to come on with my background and with my background and my passion for this topic.”

Related: Alignment Rockford names new executive director

Alignment Rockford is in the middle of a three-year grant supporting its Ready to Learn initiative, a partnership with the Erikson Institute, Transform Rockford and Rockford Public Schools to create urgency around important benchmarks for reading aptitude by third grade.

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Children who do not read at grade level by the third grade face greater risk of academic struggles later in life. When the third-grade reading movement took hold in Rockford in 2018, about 83% of third graders in Rockford were not reading at grade level.

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Alignment was awarded a $500,000 grant from the Illinois Action for Children’s Community Parenting Support Saturation project in December 2020 to help engage parents and prepare children for their first years in school.

Alignment, much like it did with career readiness, would work to integrate early childhood school readiness into the fabric of the community.

“Our role is to bring the community into the educational process with support for families and students and children so that our whole ecosystem for youth and family are rich and healthy,” Klonicki said. “Part of that work is finding the model that will sustain itself in time.”

Alignment’s other big initiative is called Live, Learn, Play, which brings together more than 30 community partners for an extended summer curriculum that supports students year round.

Alignment does its work with three staff members: Klonicki and one full-time and one part-time worker.

“It’s small, but our role is not to have a lot of people doing projects,” she said. “Our role is coordinating people at the table.”

Klonicki said her first few months on the job have been focused on building relationships within the city, the school district, her board of directors and the numerous partner agencies that support Alignment’s work.

“I want every child in Rockford to have a rich childhood,” Klonicki said. “I think big and then I try to figure out how to get there.”

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This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on Twitter at @KevinMHaas.