You may have already heard that the Federal Government is withholding $6 billion dollars in education funding. Part of this includes the 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21CCLC), which is the only dedicated federal funding source for afterschool and summer programs. In Connecticut, that equates to thousands of children without a program to go and […]
Read More
On Thursday, September 26th, Michelle Doucette Cunninham, Executive Director, spoke to one small part of the changes. Specifically, the Office of Early Childhood has changed the regulation for after school programs to allow 15 students to one teacher (instead of 10:1). Michelle spoke to the benefits this will provide families, children and programs, and thanked […]
Read More
Our kids are not ok. We must tap tried-and-true solutions like afterschool. Experts have declared children’s mental health “a national emergency,” citing lockdowns, school closures, and other unprecedented challenges related to the pandemic. Young people are experiencing more anxiety, depression, anger, fear, hostility, and aggression. ER visits for teen suicide attempts have dramatically increased. Children […]
Read More
On April 11th the Office of Early Childhood and the State Department of Education released a joint memo to address the need to coordinate services for children who attend child care programs and receive support services (Birth to Three Services, Special Education Services, Early Childhood Consultation Partnership (ECCP). As a former program director myself, this […]
Read More
We are pleased to share the launch of the 2022 Summer Enrichment Grant Program. Please see the press release for further details. Note that districts are eligible applicants. Please also feel free to share this information with any summer camps, childcare centers, and other programs in your community that might be interested in applying to […]
Read More
The Connecticut State Board of Education is seeking input from its educational stakeholders to inform the development of the Board’s strategic plan.
Read More
The National Conference of State Legislators is sharing one of their newer relaunched features which is called The American Democracy Game. This game is meant to be a way for children in middle school to put themselves in shoes of a lawmaker and find out what it is like to deal with public policy issues.
Read More
The Office for Early Childhood which oversees child care centers including after school programs has two different, but both vitally important, opportunities for you to provide feedback: Draft Licensing Regulations: Some big changes on these including to head teacher certification https://surveyentrance.com/run/oc/p2203g/start Child Care Development Fund Plan 2019-2021: Concerns Care4Kids and also state investment in quality […]
Read More
Summer Stats Survey! Some of you know that we are trying to gather data to find out the “state” of summer access in Connecticut, but we are having a hard time getting the info.
Read More After School Programs Needed to Test QRIS Process This Year Calling all programs that serve elementary and/or middle school youth! We need your help to participate in a pilot program of the OEC’s QRIS system. School-age programs are different than programs serving younger children in many important ways, and this pilot test is a crucial […]
Read More
