Educare of Maine Maine and New England

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Educare of MaineMaine and New Englands First
Comprehensive, High-quality Early Childhood
Learning Center
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Unique State and Local Opportunity

• 3 M - Doris Buffetts Sunshine Lady Foundation
  as seed money to inspire a Maine anchor donor
• 1 M Bounce Learning Network The Sunshine Lady
  Foundation partners with Buffett Early Childhood,
  Kaiser Foundation, Kellogg and others involved
  with Educare centers nationally to support new
  Educare Centers when construction begins
• 2 M Bill and Joan Alfond as Maine Anchor donor
• 2 M Governors allocation from Federal
  Recovery Act
• Various foundation and private donor contributions

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A National Network
Completed

• COMPLETED CENTERS
• Chicago
• Omaha
• Milwaukee
• Tulsa
• Denver
• Miami

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Important Connections are Made Prior to
School-Entry
90 of brain growth occurs before kindergarten
Newborn brain size compared to that of a
6-year-old brain
Newborn neural networks compared to networks of a
6-year-old
Source Paul Lombroso, Development of the
cerebral cortex. VI. Growth Factors I. Journal
of the American Academy of child and Adolescent
Psychiatry 37(6) 674-675, 1998.
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Educare and the Four Ps

• Educare is a PLACE
• Educare is a PROGRAM
• Educare is a PARTNERSHIP
• Educare is a PLATFORM for CHANGE

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Educare Maines Goal

• To measurably increase the school-readiness of
  children served and significantly reduce
  unnecessary special education costs.

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Educare Central Maine

• The Local Partnership to Implement
• Educare Maines First Center

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Capacity and Vacancy Information
Note Effective August 1st, 2008 providers will
be required to count their own children ages 6
weeks 5 years in their numbers. This may
reduce current available slots.
Data Provided by Child Care Options Resource
Development Center
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Employee Childcare Survey
2006/2007

• Age of child/ren in need of care
• (Rates include more than one child served in some
  families)
• 92.4 0-18 months
• 88.1 18 months to age 3
• 79.4 3-5
• 65.9 Concerned about Quality
• (The survey included 424 respondents from twenty
  (20) small, medium and large employers in the
  greater Waterville Area.)
• AND
• Waterville Public Schools Reports Only 25 (32
  children of the 128) kindergarteners have the
  opportunity to attend quality care and education
  preschool programming.

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Low-Income Childcare Status

• Only 17.5 of infants/toddlers and 59 of all
  preschool children in the greater Waterville area
  who qualify for subsidized care receive service.
  
• 94 of the Early/Head Start Grantee (KVCAP)
  2007/08 clientele had household incomes at or
  below federal poverty level (FPL) the remaining
  6 were below 135 of the FPL.

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Waterville Public Schools Special Education Costs

• 2008/2009 special education budget is 3,407,559
  out of the total 20,042,000 district budget.
• WPS spends 32 of its budget on 18 of its
  students.
• Of the 335 special education students 67 are
  from low-income families.
• Not including the non-special education students,
  who are low-functioning entering the K-12 system,
  Educares annual savings could be as high as
  1,515,628.

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George Mitchell Elementary School School-Readiness

• 64 of the 625 students enrolled at GJMS receive
  free or reduced lunch.
• 67 of the kindergarten students come from low
  income families.
• 48 of 128 students recently screened for
  kindergarten scored below the norms that lead to
  successful transition into public school.
• 45 of the class was at risk of reading failure.
  
• Language skills for all populations have
  decreased by 22 over the past 3 years.
• The 2007/08 Maine Education Assessments in Grade
  3 revealed that 48 of all students (60 of
  students from low income families) did not meet
  reading standards and 34 of all students (45 of
  students from low income families) did not meet
  math standards.

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Educare is.

• A Place
• where 185 to 200 mostly low-income (Head Start
  eligible) children from before they are born to
  age 5 are served, during this most critical brain
  development stage
• where the children will find a warm, caring and
  developmentally-appropriate environment that
  fosters learning

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The Place

• A 35,477 sq. ft state-of-the-art, green
  facility connected to George Mitchell Elementary
  School
• Facility designed by RDG Planning Design,
  national architect firm experienced in early
  childhood facilities and space development
• Contractor is Ledgewood Construction, Portland,
  ME
• Estimated cost of facility is 8.5 million

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Design Influence
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Design Influence

• It suggested to me that there was something to
  be seen if one had eyes. It made me a believer
  of me more than before. I believed that the
  woods were not tenantless, but choke full of
  honest spirits as good as myself any day, -not an
  empty chamber, in which chemistry was left to
  work alone, but an inhabited house, -and for a
  few moments I enjoyed fellowship with them. Your
  so-called wise man goes trying to persuade
  himself that here is no entity there but himself
  and his traps, but it is a great deal easier to
  believe the truth.
• Henry David Thoreau
• The Maine Woods

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Floor Plan
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Educare is

• A Partnership
• between the school district, Head Start, and
  Bill/Joan Alfond Foundation that has formed a 501
  (c) (3) entity Educare Central Maine
• bound by contract committing to joint governance
  and long-term support
• with a vision to better prepare disadvantaged
  children to succeed in school and in life.

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The Partnership Anchor philanthropists

• Bill and Joan Alfond Foundation and Buffet Early
  Childhood
• Buffet provided initial 3 million and Alfonds 2
  million challenge to Maines private sector for a
  4 million match
• Leads the capital campaign to build the Center
• Engages the private sector to invest in the
  Educare project and quality ECH overall
• Helps ensure its success over time
• Shares governance with other partners.

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Public Partners

• Waterville Public School Superintendent
  provides existing and expanded Title I and USDA
  federal operating dollars and support with
  existing education dollars, shares governance
• Eric Haley, Waterville Superintendent of School
• Head Start/KVCAP Provides Head Start/Early Head
  Start slots to Educare and applies for new slots
  if available works to implement the core quality
  components of the Educare model and shares
  governance
• Kathy Colfer/Pat Kosma, KVCAP

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Educare Central Maine Governance

• Three lead Partners have formed a 501 (c) (3)
  corporation to better manage private
  contributions and ensure separation of resources
• Nonprofit leadership will maximize organizational
  expertise and reduce administrative overhead by
  contributing to administrative duties such as
  human resources and fiscal management
• Strengthen Community/School Fiscal oversight and
  planning through Educare Board and Advisory
  Committee

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Governance Role

• Monitoring program implementation and financial
  status
• Review and oversee evaluation/outcome/accountabili
  ty for reporting assisting in securing
  resources
• Reviewing staff, parent and community
  recommendations
• Garnering community input and broad
  parent/community participation and voice
• Reviewing policies and procedures
• Developing strategic planning and position
  statements
• Providing State of Maine with feedback/information
  to inform State policy
• Attending community forums upon request and
• Establish function/impasse procedures with the
  WPS and KVCAP boards and staff
• Hire staff and manage human resources
• Mentor new and emerging Educare partnerships
  statewide.

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Educare Advisory CommitteeGreater Waterville
Alliance on Early Care and Learning

• Mike Roy, Waterville City Administrator State
  and federal grants for capital and
  land-use/development process
• Martha Naber, Kennebec Valley Community College
  Early Childhood Faculty/Teaching Lab lead
• Ray Nagel, Dick Farnsworth, Woodfords Family
  Services Serving children with Autism
• Liz Keach, Project Peds/CDS Provides
  funding/expertise for special needs children
• Tina Chapman, United Way of Mid-Maine Community
  leadership
• Kathleen Kenney, Waterville Public Library
  Family Literacy Partner
• Lauren Sterling, Greater Waterville Communities
  for Children/Youth Coalition Partner for
  resource development and outreach
• John Salvato, M.D. for Inside Out Playground
  Providing expertise on developmental play, health
  and prevention

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• Educare is
• A Program
• Master-level teachers supervise Bachelor-level
  teachers in each classroom
• Evidence-based teaching strategies within low
  teacher to students ratios are employed to
  support learning and development of the whole
  child
• Desired Outcome
• Children will enter Kindergarten meeting
  school-readiness measures by providing the
  highest, research-based quality development and
  education to children most in need so that they
  will be ready to take advantage of preschool and
  formal educational and life opportunities

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• Program
• Three Family Support Workers triage with teachers
  to engage parents in their childs learning as
  well as support the broader needs of each family
• Desired Outcome
• Family interactions and relationships between
  parents and children will be strengthened by
  helping parents learn how to support their
  children's healthy development, and their own
  educational, health, and workforce needs and

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• Program
• An on-site, state-of-the-art teaching lab with
  faculty from Kennebec Valley Community College
  and UMF will exists for students seeking an early
  childhood degree in Maine as well as ongoing
  training for childcare providers across the state
  and region.
• Desired Outcome
• The number of well-qualified early childhood
  professionals will Increase and expand the
  workforce to positively impact children and
  families across the state.

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Operations Income Streams

• include funds for programming that come from
  existing sources (local, state, and federal)
• are reorganized and maximized to allow for
  seamless services to children and their families
  while ensuring critical transitions into
  kindergarten
• will NOT impacting local or state taxpayers
  beyond current levels

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Revenue Streams

• Early/Head Start (state/federal)
• Waterville Public School Title I Earmark
  (state/federal)
• Maine Dept of Educations Child Development
  Services
• USDA Food (To off-set staff expense)
• Medicaid
• Maine Dept of Health and Human Services Childcare
  funds
• Parent Co-Pay based on income level
• Space Rentals (Teaching Lab with KVCC and other
  community service partners)
• Other Grants through foundations and Development
  Block Grants
• NOTE Will seek scholarships to support
  over-income families that just miss Head Start
  eligibility

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Educare Central MaineDRAFT Budget to Serve
185-200 Children and their Families

• Revenue 3,106,700
• Expenses 3,226,000
• Quality Gap 25,000 to 130,000
• (As part of 11 M goal are raising Endowment to
  off-set Quality Gap to cover any operation needs)

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Educare is

• an Opportunity
• to make significant impact on the lives of the
  most vulnerable in our community
• to mentor other communities on advancing
  quality, research-based early childhood education
  through rigorous evaluation
• (Doris Buffett has promised 3 million more for
  second center)
• to serve as a PLATFORM for policy change in
  Maine and nationally.

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Ribbon-Cutting 2010 Plan

• Raised 80 of total construction costs by June
  25, 2009 to ensure shovel-ready status and to
  secure first match from Bill/Joan Alfond
  foundation
• Need to raise 1.5 million more to access
  foundation final match of 1 million
• Build an Early Childhood Endowment
• 2 million start-up endowment as back-up to
  support the operations beyond year-one should any
  quality gap exist

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Research and the Educare Model
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Ounce of Prevention Fund www.ounceofprevention.org
May 2008
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Early Educare Successes

• Early evaluation of
• Educare
• programs provide inspiration for investment

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Promising Early Returns Bracken
School Readiness Nearly 100 of
kindergarten-bound children leave Educare with
school readiness cluster scores that meet or
exceed expected levels, especially in the areas
of letters, colors, and numbers. Vocabulary
Preschool children begin the year with vocabulary
scores in the low-average range (45-49 score).
By the end of the year, on average, children have
vocabulary scores in the average range, with
kindergarten bound children achieving the highest
average mean score (95-98 score). Early
Literacy Kindergarten bound children leave
Educare with specific early literacy skills that
meet or exceed expected developmental ranges
(i.e., 69 - 94 depending on the skill),
including the more difficult skill areas
dependent on good auditory processing capacity of
letter sounds, beginning sounds and rhyme
awareness.
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Questions