For the community of Columbus, this service is provided solely by Columbus Public Schools, no matter where a student may end up enrolling as a kindergartener.

IDEA Part C authorizes states to run early intervention systems for infants and toddlers with disabilities or developmental delays, and in Nebraska that system is the Early Development Network (EDN), a free, family-centered program jointly run by the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. Nebraska is unusual in that it has provided early childhood special education to children birth to 5 since 1978 and is one of only five states with a "birth mandate" law guaranteeing a free, appropriate education from birth rather than the federal floor of age 3, meaning families cannot be charged for these services. Part C is distinct from IDEA Part B, which funds special education for the Age 3-21 population; Part C is home- and family-centered rather than classroom-based, built around an Individualized Family Service Plan addressing communication, movement, learning, and social-emotional development.

The role is critical because the window it serves matters more than almost any other point in a child's development. Research consistently shows that outcomes from intervention delivered before age 3 — during the period of greatest brain plasticity — are harder and more costly to replicate later, which is part of why Nebraska went beyond the federal minimum and adopted its birth mandate in the first place. That urgency is built into the program's design: EDN referrals move on a fast 45-day timeline from referral to evaluation and initial family meeting, specifically to avoid losing time during a developmental window that doesn't wait. For families, catching a delay early — in speech, motor skills, or social-emotional development — can mean the difference between a child entering kindergarten ready to learn and one who needs far more intensive (and expensive) intervention later, when the same catch-up is harder to achieve.

Columbus High School has spent five academic years building one of its most distinctive career and technical education offerings: the Health Science Pathway, run in partnership with Columbus Community Hospital (CCH) and Central Community College. CHS Principal Dave Hiebner has championed the program from early on, noting that the purpose of the pathway is to align opportunities for students to get hands-on exposure to different paths in the healthcare field during the school day — a deliberate design choice for students already juggling a full slate of extracurriculars. Hiebner has since credited CCH nurse-instructor Wendy Kallhoff, RN, BSN, with much of the program's growth, calling the partnership "a shining example of the power of school and community partnerships."

The CHS curriculum follows a structured progression: Health Science 1 (an introduction to healthcare), Health Science 2 (advanced topics), a dual-credit CNA certification course, and Health Science 3, a capstone built around job shadowing at CCH. Two newer additions — medical terminology and a medication aide class — were added in 2025-26 to meet both student interest and demand from local healthcare facilities, extending what students can earn beyond the CNA credential alone. Kallhoff has taught in the program for over four years and has described watching some of her CHS students reach real career milestones as one of the most rewarding parts of the work, saying it shows "what an impact we are having on each of these students, our community and especially our healthcare community."

Districtwide participation has impacted over 245 students since the program's inception, with 90 new CNAs trained last year, and by the 2025-26 school year has grown to 116 students in Health Science 1, 41 in Health Science 2, 27 in Health Science 3, 78 in the CNA course, 35 in medical terminology, and 11 in the new medication aide class. Mr. Hiebner has pointed to the program as proof of concept for what focused, industry-aligned coursework can do that a standard anatomy or physiology elective can't — giving students a real credential, real clinical exposure, and in some cases a running start into a career in health care before they've even graduated.