Imagine thinking about getting a newborn, still in the hospital, ready to start school. In cities with long waits for high quality day care and killer competition for private pre-school, parents may be obsessing about early childhood education long before labor and delivery.

A Forth Worth public school district has taken it one step further, handing out welcome letters to all newborns as part of a school-readiness program, according to the Star-Telegram in Forth Worth. The efforts of this one school district and hospital in Texas are worth noting; they come at a time when research shows as many as half of U.S. children who enter public schools are not ready to learn.

A packet of information produced by the Hurst-Euless-Bedford School district includes advice on everything from early childhood activities to benchmarks parents can look at to asssess how ready their child is for school. The North Hills Hospital has played a role as well.

"Anything we can do to help new parents prepare, we think, is a benefit," Randy Moresi, chief executive officer of North Hills Hospital, told the Start Telegram.

It would be fascinating to follow the families who participate in this program and see how their children fare once they enter school. Will the suggestions be followed or tossed away with the Pampers? Will parental awareness of school readiness benchmarks make a difference in how their children fare once they enter school? Are any studies available to see if such programs have worked elsewhere in the U.S. or is this one groundbreaking?