We are a public-private partnership working together to offer LENA Start classes in Central Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service, Marathon County Public Library, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin-Community Services, and Medical College of Wisconsin-Central Wisconsin partnered to bring LENA Start to Marathon County, and new partners and supporters continue to join us. North Central Health Care hosted our first employer-based LENA Start site in the Fall 2018. Achieve Center joined as a partner in 2019. Multiple schools, churches and community centers have served as site partners. The robust LENA Start Central Wisconsin public-private partnership makes our program unique.

About LENA

The LENA Start program is created by LENA, a 501(c)(3) public charity based in Boulder, Colorado. The organization was founded by Terry and Judi Paul, the Port Edwards couple who founded Accelerated Reader/Renaissance Learning in central Wisconsin.

Terry and Judi were inspired to establish LENA by the research and writings of Drs. Betty Hart and Todd Risley. Drs. Hart and Risley identified talk environments in the first 24-36 months of life as one of the most important determinants of language ability, IQ, and school success.

Because “you can’t improve what you don’t measure,” they developed technology to measure language spoken to infants and toddlers. LENA technology is used worldwide to measure and provide feedback on early language, but the Paul family always envisioned it as a tool for parents.

LENA is increasingly being used in the way Terry and Judi originally intended, as a key component in programs to accelerate language development of disadvantaged children. Together with LENA, we can make a difference in the lives of children worldwide.

Become a Partner

If you would like to partner with us, fill out the form below and one of our staff members will get back to you.