(FLINT, Mich., May 11, 2026) — Janae is visiting a potential school with her mom Jennifer, checking out the facilities, meeting teachers, and spending time with current students. This is not a college visit – this is a Kindergarten Transition Buddy Visit.
It is part of the Flint Early Childhood Collaborative’s mission to ensure that Flint’s littlest scholars are prepared academically and socially for success in kindergarten. To help ease the transition, students at Educare Flint and their parents use Buddy Visits to learn more about the next step in the child’s educational journey.
During a Buddy Visit, preschoolers visit a kindergarten room and are paired with a current kindergartener to work on collaborative assignments designed to help them become familiar with expectations and alleviate anxiety about transitioning to kindergarten. They also take a short tour and have lunch in the lunchroom to get a preview of what school will be like after preschool.
“I think the Buddy Visit was beneficial because it gave Janae an opportunity to see what kindergarten would be like and the kinds of activities she could look forward to, like computers and music. It helped prepare her for being in a ‘bigger world’,” said Jennifer Husocki, Educare parent.
Educare Flint is part of the Flint Early Childhood Collaborative that includes the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Community Foundation of Greater Flint, Flint Center for Educational Excellence, Flint Community Schools, and Genesee Intermediate School District.
Buddy Visits are the bridge between the high-quality early childhood experience offered at Educare at the Flint Community Schools Cummings Great Expectations Center and the elementary education system. Because the influence of early experiences becomes clear in national student outcomes by fourth grade, the Early Childhood Collaborative works to align efforts within and between early childhood and elementary education sectors to create a seamless and connected early childhood system from birth to third grade.
When children start school ready to learn, they are more likely to read on grade level, succeed academically, graduate from high school and reach long-term economic mobility. Kindergarten readiness is influenced by a broad set of early conditions that build on each other throughout early childhood.
High-quality pre-kindergarten emerges as one of the most well-researched and effective strategies communities can employ to create the conditions children need to grow, explore, and learn successfully. It strengthens early learning outcomes on its own and amplifies the impact of family and community supports.
The Flint Early Childhood Collaborative, through the Flint Educare School and Cummings Great Expectations, is invested in providing high-quality learning environments that serve as hubs for intensive family engagement. The two-generational approach used at both sites addresses and supports the critical link between the well-being of parents and the social, academic, emotional, physical, and cognitive development of their children, so that all kids can succeed from cradle to career.
In the long run, high-quality preschool is not just good for children and families; it also delivers strong returns for communities. High-quality early childhood education can generate at least $3 to $4 in long-term benefits for every dollar invested, while increasing property values and supporting greater family stability, according to a benefit-cost analysis in The Economic Returns to Early Childhood Education.
A national economic analysis found that property values rise in communities that support strong pre-k systems, and families experience greater stability. Universal preschool can yield more than $15,000 in economic benefit per child to the broader economy, reflecting long-term gains, from higher earnings and lower public spending.
The Flint Early Childhood Collaborative is committed to working together to build a sustainable, equitable, early childhood system that allows Flint kids, their families, and the community to thrive.
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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. To learn more about the Flint Center, visit theflintcenter.org.
