The issues we seek to address- academic success, achievement gaps, diversity, equity and social inclusion- are all determined by access and the quality of opportunities we are given in the earliest years of our lives. At the heart of our service advocacy is a community-engaged initiative and action in Early Learning. The CAIRO Academy was launched in early 2016 to close the gaps and services in Early childhood education for African children and families in Multnomah and Washington Counties.

CAIRO strongly believes that our students at the Academy will have improved their social skills prior to graduation, will have less or no need for special education instruction during subsequent school years, and attain better grades with enhanced attention spans. We work with a variety of partner agencies and foundations in ensuring access to quality preschool for all children in the regions we work in and communities we serve. Our Early Learning services and advocacy deeply seeds from the fact that Early Learning gaps emerge early for disadvantaged students. We work with pregnant mothers and children aged up-to 3 years through parenting education and home visiting services where we introduce literacy and parent-child interaction in early stages. We also aim to get students off to a good start in our preschools, so they can have successful transitions through K-12 and college to career. We build pride in heritage and strong foundations through our CAIRO Academy that integrate the African culture, early literacy, and parent training. Bilingual, bicultural African community members welcome families and are integral part of all of our CAIR0 Academy programs and leadership.