The national Educare Learning Network will celebrate its 25th Anniversary in Flint during the organization’s annual meeting May 7-9 at the Riverfront Conference Center in downtown Flint and at the Educare Flint school. More than 300 Educare Network educators from across the country, representing 25 Educare schools, will convene in Flint to explore issues and best practices related to increasing access to equitable, high-quality early childhood education.
The Educare Flint school is the first and only Educare school in Michigan. It was founded in 2017 in the wake of the Flint water crisis to serve as a model for high-quality early childhood education in the city. The Educare model goes beyond traditional childcare by employing a two-generation approach to learning and development. This approach recognizes the critical tie between parents’ well-being and their children’s social, emotional and cognitive development.
“We are thrilled to be able to bring the Educare Network to Flint,” said Ja’Nel Jamerson, President and CEO of the Flint Center. “It is an opportunity for us to spotlight the Flint Early Childhood Collaborative on a national level, including our Educare Flint facility.” The Flint Early Childhood Collaborative is a diverse group of partners working together to improve educational opportunities for Flint’s youngest children.
Jamerson will moderate a conversation with Dr. Mona Hanna at the opening plenary session on May 7, centered around her Rx Kids program providing prenatal and first year support to families, her involvement in developing the Educare Flint school in 2017, and the impact of high-quality early childhood education on communities.
Dr. Mona Hanna is a pediatrician, professor, and public health advocate whose research exposed the Flint water crisis. She is the author of the 2018 book What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City.
Educare is a national network of 25 early childhood schools that partners with families in urban, suburban, rural and tribal communities to provide quality early learning and care to thousands of young children from birth to age five.
The organization connects communities, researchers, advocates, policymakers, public and private philanthropists, early childhood professionals, and systems leaders who believe early childhood education increases opportunities for all children.
The Flint Center for Educational Excellence is building an educational ecosystem that works for all Flint kids by providing programs, research, and advocacy that ensure Flint kids, their families, schools, and communities thrive. We accomplish this through a cross-sector partnership to create a cradle-to-career support network connecting people, ideas and resources in tangible ways that strengthen our community through the power of collaboration.
