Press Room

Fall 2020 Update: Snapshot as of November 1, 2020

Sun, 01 Nov 2020 16:44:11 GMT

Educare Springfield joyously opened our doors and transitioned 141 children, their families and staff beginning January 2, 2020. A few short months later, which seem like a lifetime ago for our community, Educare closed the facility on March 13, 2020 due to the state lockdown as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the physical facility closed, our early learning community did not cease serving the children and families of Educare Springfield. We continued to provide services for our families, providing supports and referrals from the family service coordinators. Many families were faced with food insecurity, some required mental health referrals, and others needed learning supplies to assist their children's development. We instituted virtual classrooms for continued learning and enrichment with our Holyoke Chicopee Head Start partners.

After several months of arduously working on a reopening plan to submit to the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care for approval, we were able to welcome back a cohort of 4-year-olds to Educare on July 28. We have also very recently opened up one infant and toddler classroom. So, once again, our building is filled with young voices and the critical work of nurturing those in our care.

We are continuing to monitor local guidance and the overall public health situation to determine when and how we might be able to serve more children on-site. In the meantime, all children enrolled at Educare Springfield have access to our remote learning program and other enrichment opportunities.

Snapshot (as of November 1, 2020)

94 total children currently enrolled in Educare Springfield

23 children enrolled for on-site services
2 Preschool classrooms
1 Infant/Toddler classroom
71 children enrolled in virtual services

Educare Springfield Executive Director Joins National, Local Boards

Thu, 29 Oct 2020 15:50:19 GMT

SPRINGFIELD — Nikki Burnett, executive director of Educare Springfield, the nation’s 24th Educare early-education center, has been appointed to a number of national Educare-related boards, including the Educare Learning Network (ELN) collaborative fundraising advisory board, which finds opportunities for greater financial sustainability of the ELN through enhanced fundraising programming.

Burnett, the first executive director of Educare Springfield, has also joined the Red Nose Day advisory board, which provides guidance over the grant from Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day Fund on behalf of the ELN. Burnett has also joined the Educare Policy Work Group, which guides and supports the collective network’s engagement in early-childhood policy and advocacy, and the Educare Learning Network steering committee, which informs the direction of the annual meeting.

Locally, Burnett has also joined a number of local serving boards, including the board of trustees of the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, as well as the boards of Holyoke Community College Foundation and Dress for Success.

B urnett was raised in the Mason Square neighborhood, attended neighborhood public schools, and earned her undergraduate degree in leadership and organizational science from Bay Path University. She will be completing her master’s degree in leadership and negotiation from Bay Path in 2020.

Read the full story at Businesswest.com

Paul Belsito Eyes ‘Impact Philanthropy’ As He Takes Helm At Davis Foundation ‑ Business West

Tue, 04 Aug 2020 15:00:29 GMT

Belsito said his first assignment is to understand what makes Springfield Springfield, and it is ongoing. From there, his job is to pull people together — something the Davis Foundation has always been good at it — and, when possible, move the needle.

He’s made it a career to take on such work, and he’s more than excited about what the next chapter might bring.

Read the full story at Business West

One People, One House: We all need to ‘stretch’ to bring about lasting change

Sun, 02 Aug 2020 15:11:08 GMT

Editor’s note: This is part of The Republican’s One People, One House community dialogue series sharing perspectives on the issues of racism and policing:

We are advised to stretch before jogging or running a race to warm up our muscles and increase flexibility. Without stretching there is weakness and inability to extend all the way.

Some stretches are tight and painful, and a trainer will encourage us to continue to move into the discomfort and hold there. After holding the stretch for a few seconds (which ultimately feels like an eternity), the muscles have loosened, feel limber and are ready to conquer the track ahead.

We are in times where humanity is running the race FOR its life. It is incumbent upon all of us to get in the starting block and commit to the finish line.

Jeremy Heimans, in his TedTalk, “What New Power Looks Like,” tells us that we need “the deployment of mass participation and peer coordination to create change and shift outcomes.”

I am experiencing an exponential increase in opportunities to have discussions about race, politics and history in my personal and professional life.

Read the full story at Masslive.com

Springfield's 34th Annual Black American Heritage ceremony

Mon, 03 Feb 2020 16:20:00 GMT

Springfield celebrates Black History month

2/3/2020 -Springfield- Students from Springfield's Freedman Elementary School sing during the city's 34th Annual Black American Flag Raising ceremony at City Hall to celebrate Black History Month.

Read the full story at Masslive.com

Leading the Way: Nikki Burnett, executive director of Educare Springfield

Fri, 17 Jan 2020 16:22:21 GMT

“I am a product of early education and care; and my daughter is a product of it as well,” Nikki Burnett told us recently. Burnett’s daughter is currently a student at Howard University.

As for Burnett herself she has come full circle. Born and raised in Massachusetts, in Springfield’s Mason Square neighborhood, Burnett worked for over a decade as a senior administrator at the American Heart Association. Now she’s back in Mason Square working as the executive director of the new Educare Springfield center , which just opened this month and is already at full enrollment.

Educare is an evidence-based national network of 25 early education programs with the sweeping goal of figuring out “the most effective and the most promising ways to work with each individual child and each individual family, and we do that with excitement and passion for the work,” according to Charlotte Brantley, the president and CEO of the Clayton Early Learning, Educare Denver.

Read the full story www.eyeonearlyeducation.org

Educare is set to partner with Springfield College

Wed, 11 Dec 2019 16:26:52 GMT

A shiny, brand-new $14 million state-of-the-art building now rises up from the ruins resulting from a tornado that ripped apart the area. Financed by a $9 million contribution from an anonymous donor, it is located in one of the poorest neighborhoods; the impressive structure stands out against the typical architecture surrounding it. What is this new mystery building, and what is it doing in Springfield? The answer is Educare.

Read the full story www.scstudentmedia.com

Educare Springfield to benefit children, families and community

Wed, 11 Dec 2019 15:47:49 GMT

Community leaders, local and national partners gathered on September 17 to celebrate the groundbreaking of Educare Springfield, the 24th Educare school nationwide. Educare Springfield will provide low-income children with high-quality early learning during their first five years to prepare them to succeed in life.

Educare also partners with state advocacy to pass legislation related to young children and families. It involves federal, state, and local policymakers so they can see the benefits of the program. Senator Angus King attended Educare Central Maine to see what it was really like. He is helping to reintroduce the Pace Act, a bipartisan legislation that would update the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit.

The Holyoke-Chicopee-Springfield Head Start program works with and operates the Educare here in Springfield. Head Start is a federally funded early education program that works with schools and children to get them the education they need. “One of the things that we’ve done already is that our faculty were fortunate enough to be able to deliver some professional development to some of the Head Start staff so we’ve already had these faculty present to all the staff of Head Start,” Davis-Delano explained. Through working with HCS Head Start, Educare will be developed into an effective and beneficial resource that will go towards helping families and children that need it.

Read the full story