Category: CIF

Bromley-Heath housing complex to get $16 million learning center that focuses on entire families

Metro
November 02, 2012
Bromley-Heath housing complex to get $16 million learning center that focuses on entire families
By Matt Rocheleau | Globe Correspondent
Boston officials and education leaders will break ground Friday on a $16 million learning center at the Bromley-Heath housing development that aims to teach children, their parents, and other members of their community in the same space.
“The more we looked at what really moves the dial for low-income, at-risk kids, we realized we had to focus on the economic stability of the entire family,” said Wayne Ysaguirre, head of Associated Early Care and Education, a Boston nonprofit that is spearheading the project.
The organization has specialized in teaching young children for more than a century and opened an early education center at Bromley-Heath 60 years ago. The complex is located where Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill, and Roxbury converge.
Latoya Taromino’s 3-year-old son, Anthony, is one of about 80 children enrolled at the old center. Working full time as a receptionist and raising three children by herself, the 31-year-old Bromley-Heath resident said she had struggled at times to teach her youngest son. He could not count to 10, for instance, and he fell behind his peers.
But since Anthony joined the early-learning program two summers ago, she said, he has made dramatic improvement. He can count to 30; he knows his ABCs and shapes; he speaks in clear, full sentences, she said. “He’s actually a little ahead.”
Already appreciative, she said, she could not have been more excited to learn about the new, cutting-edge center, ¬expected to open in 2014 .
The existing site at Bromley-Heath is located in an old basement. After trying for two decades, operators secured new property nearby four years ago, and planning began.
The core component will be early education. The new facility will have room for about 175 children up to age 8.
More than a dozen other organizations will share resources, including the Thrive in 5 initiative, which is run by the city and the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley. The initiative prepares Boston children for kindergarten.
The center’s 150 educators will be required to have at least a bachelor’s degree, a high requirement for early education, Ysaguirre said.
The 20,000-square-foot facility will be run as a lab school, incorporating the latest research on creative curriculum and teaching methods.
The energy-efficient building will be paid for by a $5 million federal grant, a $1.5 million state grant, and private donations.
“We can’t engage a kid without engaging their parents,” said Kate Bennett, chief of development for the Boston Housing Authority, which oversees the city’s public housing.
Career-focused courses will be offered to about 150 adults. Another 700 can enroll in programs on parenting, financial stability, and nutrition.
Officials also envision that the center will improve the well-being of Bromley-Heath’s 1,800 residents. More than 40 percent of adults do not have a high school diploma.
“There’s so much going on in that community; they need a catalyst for change,” said state Representative Jeffrey Sanchez.
Sanchez said that when he was 4, he enrolled in the Associated Early Care and Education center in the Mission Main housing development after his Spanish-speaking family moved from New York City.
“It’s where I learned ¬English,” he said. “I hope more children who are in the same situation that I was in can ¬access programs like this.”
Matt Rocheleau can be reached at mjrochele@gmail.com.

© 2012 The New York Times Company
URL: http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/11/01/bromley-heath-housing-complex-get-million-learning-center-that-focuses-entire-families/qy1lDAdB6OZpMGmbMTWuZJ/story.html

SourceThe Boston Globe (Boston.Com Metro)

Little-known nonprofit taps heavyweights (again)

Ellis Memorial, a little-known nonprofit in the South End, recruited a powerful group of Boston business leaders to fund the renovation of its new building on Berkeley Street and plans to tap the same group for the renovation of the building next door.

Boston’s oldest settlement house, Ellis Memorial — a nonprofit that runs a range of social programs from early childhood education, to those for youth and the elderly — was forced to find new space when it was notified that the building at 95 Berkeley St., where it had been leasing space, would be going on the market. …

SourceBoston Business Journal

Rally held for YMCA after-school programs

Friday, October 19, 2012

Rally held for YMCA after-school programs

By Amber Parcher / The Daily Item

(Item Photo / Angela Owens)
From left, Haja Kalle, 9, Justin Santiago, 9, Jackie Borelli, 9, and Carlos Sanabria, 8, make parfaits at the Lynn YMCA’s new kids’ cafeteria on Thursday.

LYNN — Ten-year-old Bryan Zayas dipped his spoon into a bowl of creamy yogurt and lifted a heaping pile onto a cup full of strawberries, blueberries and blackberries.

“The yogurt’s supposed to go on the bottom!” cried his friend, 9-year-old Matthew Colon as Zayas ignored his instructions.

The boys and a dozen other children were making parfaits in a new, commercial-grade kitchen at the Lynn YMCA on Thursday afternoon as part of the YMCA’s licensed after-school program.

On this particular day, politicians and state education officials joined in the activity as part of a national celebration for after-school programs like those at the YMCA.

Lynn YMCA’s after-school instructors and hundreds of children held a rally in the building’s parking lot Thursday called Lights On Afterschool, where Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy introduced a city proclamation naming Thursday citywide Lights On After-school Day. She also showed a statewide proclamation signed by Gov. Deval Patrick declaring the same thing.

Across the nation, more than 7,000 community after-school programs held similar rallies.

“I’m so happy that all of us here in Lynn are part of that 7,000 that can celebrate this great day,” Kennedy told the students.

After-school programs like those at Lynn’s YMCA are a big part of helping underachieving students catch up in school, said Tania Buck, the senior director of after-school programs and government relations at the Lynn YMCA.

The YMCA provides everything from a study club for students of all ages, to organized activities in the computer lab, to sports games in the gym, to music lessons in a recording studio, to summer programs that support math and reading literacy.

“The after-school programs today, they’re not babysitting,” Buck said. “It’s really about extending the learning of children’s day.”

The Lynn YMCA sees about 450-500 children a day through its two after-school programs, which include a licensed child-care program for children ages 3-13 and a drop-in center for children of all ages.

And enforcing healthy habits is a key component of the YMCA’s after-school program, said group leader Kevin Davila as he led his third-graders in a round of jumping jacks before the rally.

For the entire month of October, students in his group will introduce themselves by their name and favorite vegetable and before any scheduled playtime do group exercise.

“We just try to keep it stuck in their heads that eating healthy is the right way to go,” he said.

But for 10-year-old Zayas, coming to Lynn YMCA every day after school is just a fun thing to do.

“I like the gym and I like to play basketball,” he said.

Amber Parcher can be reached at aparcher@itemlive.com.

SourceThe Daily Item, Lynn

The importance of funding quality facilities

SourceThe Wellesley Townsman

Ellis Memorial celebrates newly renovated building at 58 Berkeley Street

Ellis Memorial celebrates
newly renovated building at 58 Berkeley Street
Building will house after-school programs and
additional youth programs
Since 1885, Ellis Memorial, Boston’s first settlement house, has been caring for children, disabled adults, elders, and families who live and work in the South End of Boston and adjacent neighborhoods.llis Memorial’s core programs include:Early Education and Infant Care, After-School Program, Summer Camp, and an Adult Day Health Program. Www.ellismemorial.org

SourceSouth End News [Vol. 33 , No. 37]

YWCA wins $100K loan for child-care program

June 28, 2012
YWCA wins $100K loan for child-care program
Newburyport Daily News
NEWBURYPORT — The Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation has approved a $100,000 loan to help expand the YWCA Greater Newburyport’s child care offerings.
The money will be used to renovate a 9,000-square-foot facility currently operating as early care and education space in Newburyport.
Ellie Davis, director of programs and community relations for the YWCA Greater Newburyport, said her agency will be opening a new branch at 131/2 Pond St. in Newburyport this fall. The signature program at the new facility will be its YWCA Children’s Center, which will provide quality, affordable care for toddlers and preschoolers age 15 months to 5 years old.
The renovation will help the YWCA meet one of its strategic goals, which is to expand its existing child care programming. The YWCA intends to initially operate three classrooms and expand to four classrooms in a year. In the program’s first year, officials expect to serve 59 children, toddlers and preschoolers and provide a before- and after-school program for kindergartners and a half-day preschool program.
“We are very excited about this new project as it allows us to build on our strong reputation that is based on our years of providing quality after-school care,” Davis said in an email.
Nicole Brennan will be the director of the new center.
The Children’s Investment Fund, which is affiliated with CEDAC, provides technical assistance and financing to nonprofit child care centers that serve low-income populations. It approved the permanent construction loan to the YWCA.
For more, contact the YWCA, 13 Market St., 978-465-9922.

URL: http://www.siteencore.com/cnhi/newburyportnews/shop_local/TABBQ_launch/index.html
© 2012 Community Newspaper Holdings, Inc.

SourceNewburyport Daily News

Poor Physical Space Compromises Quality

May 10, 2012
Poor Physical Space Compromises Quality
by Irene Sege
The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston publishes a quarterly journal, Communities & Banking, which focuses on issues of concern to low- and moderate-income communities. We are pleased that early childhood is on the magazine’s radar screen. The Winter 2012 edition featured a story on the importance of third grade reading and Springfield’s citywide Read! Campaign to improve early literacy in the Western Massachusetts city. Now the Spring 2012 issue features a story – “Infrastructure Investment Begins with Children” – about efforts by the Children’s Investment Fund to improve the physical condition of early education and care facilities in Massachusetts.
Among community-based facilities the fund surveyed for its recent report, 34% had inadequate heating and cooling, 54% lacked indoor active play space, 20% had one or more classrooms without windows, 22% had indoor air with elevated levels of carbon dioxide, 70% had no classroom sinks, 22% lacked workspace for teachers, and 65% lacked technology for teachers.
“Massachusetts, like other states, has invested significant private and public resources in quality improvement for early care and education and out-of-school-time services, particularly for low-income children,” the Fed story notes. “But quality — and the physical infrastructure to support it — is critical to fulfilling the state’s aspirations for these children, and clearly, the resources to fix problems cannot be found in program operating budgets. Children’s Investment Fund has therefore begun to pursue options for improving facility quality, some near term, some longer term. It is working with the business community, public officials, community development organizations, and funders to ensure that early care and education and out-of-school-time programs can make improvements.”
The article, written by Children’s Investment Fund Director Mav Pardee, outlines some of the strategies being pursued to address the problem:
• Ensure that repairs and hazardous conditions are addressed by making small grants available to nonprofit providers.
• Encourage green environments by working with utility companies to address energy efficiency that can generate operating savings and create healthier indoor spaces.
• Work with community development resources to identify capital for ensuring that community infrastructure includes early care and education and out-of-school-time facilities.
• Work with public officials, researchers, and advocates to expand the definition of quality to include the physical plant as the foundation of other quality initiatives related to children’s health, development, and education.
“The issue is so urgent and the potential benefits so high,” Pardee concludes, “that we need to find the public will to create affordable and sustainable financing to improve the buildings where the most vulnerable Massachusetts children spend their childhoods.”
URL: http://eyeonearlyeducation.org/2012/05/10/poor-physical-space-compromises-quality/

SourceEye on Early Education Blog

CEDAC NOT Mentioned: Quincy dedicates Wahlberg Learning Center

April 12, 2012
Quincy dedicates Wahlberg Learning Center
By Lauren DiTullio
QUINCY — In a Wednesday morning ceremony that turned into a standing-room-only affair, the Rosemary & Archie Wahlberg Early Learning Center was dedicated to its namesake couple.
Quincy Community Action Programs purchased the building at 22 Pray St., formerly the St. Joseph’s School, from the Archdiocese of Boston in 2010. After a $7.5 million renovation – paid for with federal funding, grants from Head Start, State Street Corp. and the City of Quincy, and low-interest financing from Rockland Trust – the school opened in December.
Having the new facility enabled QCAP to stop leasing classroom space in Braintree and Germantown.
Children of low-income families in Quincy and other communities are fed at the center from a state-of-the-art kitchen and have the opportunity to learn in colorful room.
“We’ve been waiting for a moment to really be able to acknowledge Rosemary and Archie properly,” said Beth Ann Strollo, QCAP executive director.
Archie Wahlberg was a founding member of the QCAP board, and his wife went on to serve as executive director for 25 years.
“They did work that was hard. They were courageous in their work,” Strollo said.
The ceremony also included the naming of a large meeting space in the school. The space is now called the Delahunt Room, in recognition of former U.S. Rep. William D. Delahunt, who helped QCAP secure federal funding for the project.
“This building is a physical reflection of the character of this city,” Delahunt said.
Also among the attendees were Mayor Thomas Koch, city council President Michael MacFarland, state Reps. Bruce Ayers and Tackey Chan, and state Sen. John Keenan.
A plaque honoring the Wahlbergs will hang in the early learning center’s lobby.
The couple took the podium to a standing ovation, after which Rosemary Wahlberg spoke briefly about her life and service in Quincy since 1957.
“You can really make a difference here,” she said.
READ MORE about this issue.

SourcePatriot Ledger

Waltham Day Care Center gets a boost

March 21, 2012
Waltham Day Care Center gets a boost
By Ignacio Laguarda

WALTHAM — The Waltham Day Care Center once typified the problems plaguing most day care centers in the state, but now, it stands as an example of how to adapt.
The 39-year-old day care center recently received an $180,000 grant to renovate its space, located in the basement of the First Parish Church in Waltham on Church Street.
Most of the money came from the Children’s Investment Fund, a statewide organization that doles out money to early-childhood education and out-of-school-time centers to improve their facilities, and also provides technical assistance and training to nonprofit groups.
The fund released a study a few months ago detailing how many day care centers in the state fail to meet basic requirements, and randomly chose 182 sites to examine.
The fund found that many needed to improve in health and safety conditions for their students and teachers.
For example, the study found that fewer than 15 percent of programs serving preschool children are in spaces designed for early childhood education and less than 10 percent are adequate for school-aged children.
Further, between 12 percent and 26 percent of the sites do not meet building code requirements either for walls, floors, windows or the roof.
The most common violation was in the condition of the floors, and only one of the centers met accessibility requirements for the disabled.
The study also found that one out of every five classrooms had no exterior windows and the same percentage had insufficient ventilation.
Before the renovation, the Waltham Day Care Center suffered from many of these problems, including inadequate learning spaces, poor air quality and an inefficient floor plan.
On Friday, Feb. 24, representatives from the day care center, Children’s Investment Fund, and state Reps. Thomas Stanley and Alice Peisch, took a tour of the renovated facilities.
Peisch represents Wellesley and is the chair of the education committee in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Cameron Tucker, former director of the Waltham Day Care Center, led the tour.
The Waltham Day Care Center serves low and moderate-income families, and currently serves 38 children, from 1 to 5 years old, in three classrooms.
Tucker said that one of the most dramatic improvements to the center is right behind the main door. In the past, anyone who entered through the door would walk right into the preschool classroom.
“All of the children would jump up and run and greet you,” said Tucker. “That was a tough way to teach a classroom.”
To address the problem, the renovation created a hallway entrance, with an office where the preschool class used to be, and moved the preschool class to another location.
“It really did allow for a different kind of attention when you have an enclosed classroom like that,” said Tucker.
Another major improvement was installing new bathrooms, to replace the previous restroom that was completely separated from the center. The walk to the bathroom was so long, the center employed a person to escort students.
New windows were also brought in, as well as lights, and the floors were all torn up and replaced with new plumbing.
Tucker said the renovations had a major effect on the students and the teachers.
“When you allow a teacher to just teach instead of manage, they get a greater sense of professionalism and that leads to an increased sense of teamwork,” she said.
She said the majority of families who use the day care center are either from Waltham or work in the city.
“We are one of the great secrets of Waltham,” she said.
Mav Pardee, the director of the Children’s Investment Fund, said inadequate learning spaces causes a number of problems for students and teachers.
For instance, because many day care centers are in renovated spaces such as churches, acoustics can be an issue.
“If children can’t hear what the adults articulate, they’re not getting the kind of support they are at a critical period in language development,” she said.
Pardee said air quality is another major issue, and can hurt students with asthma.
Having sinks in classrooms can also prevent the spread of viruses. The center did not have sinks in the rooms before the renovation.
Pardee said there needs to be a public funding mechanism to help schools that do not have the money to make renovations through long-term, low cost loans.
“The problem is big enough, and widespread enough and important enough that I think we all in society have an investment in where these children go to school,” she said. “Part of quality improvement is making sure kids are spending their day in a space that really supports their teacher’s ability to do their job, makes them feel good about themselves and makes their parents feel very confident.”
Ignacio Laguarda can be reached at 781-398-8004 or ilaguarda@wickedlocal.com.

Copyright 2012 Wicked Local Waltham. Some rights reserved
URL: http://www.wickedlocal.com/waltham/news/x1231827238/Waltham-Day-Care-Center-gets-a-boost?zc_p=0#axzz1pxlUixEA

SourceWicked Local Waltham

Day care center gets a boost

Friday, March 16, 2012
Day care center gets a boost
By Ignacio Laguarda
WALTHAM – The Waltham Day Care Center once typified the problems plaguing most day care centers in the state, but now, it stands as an example of how to adapt.
The 39-year-old day care center recently received an $180,000 grant to renovate its space, located in the basement of the First Parish Church in Waltham on Church Street.
Most of the money came from the Children’s Investment Fund, a statewide organization that doles out money to early-childhood education and out-of-school-time centers to improve their facilities, and also provides technical assistance and training to nonprofit groups.
The Fund released a study a few months ago detailing how many day care centers in the state fail to meet basic requirements, and randomly chose 182 sites to examine.
The Fund found that many needed to improve in health and safety conditions for their students and teachers.
For example, the study found that fewer than 15 percent of programs serving pre-school children are in spaces designed for early childhood education and less than 10 percent are adequate for school-aged children.
Further, between 12 percent and 26 percent of the sites do not meet building code requirements either for walls, floors, windows or the roof.
The most common violation was in the condition of the floors, and only one of the centers met accessibility requirements for the disabled.
The study also found that one out of every five classrooms had no exterior windows and the same percentage had insufficient ventilation.
Before the renovation, the Waltham Day Care Center suffered from many of these problems, including inadequate learning spaces, poor air quality and an inefficient floor plan.
On Friday, Feb. 24, representatives from the day care center, Children’s Investment Fund, and state Reps. Thomas Stanley and Alice Peisch, took a tour of the renovated facilities.
Peisch represents Wellesley and is the chair of the education committee in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
Cameron Tucker, former director of the Waltham Day Care Center, led the tour.
The Waltham Day Care Center serves low and moderate-income families, and currently serves 38 children, from 1 to 5 years old, in three classrooms.
Tucker said that one of the most dramatic improvements to the center is right behind the main door. In the past, anyone who entered through the door would walk right into the preschool classroom.
“All of the children would jump up and run and greet you,” said Tucker. “That was a tough way to teach a classroom.”
To address the problem, the renovation created a hallway entrance, with an office where the preschool class used to be, and moved the preschool class to another location.
“It really did allow for a different kind of attention when you have an enclosed class-room like that; said Tucker.
Another major improvement was installing new bathrooms, to replace the previous restroom that was completely separated from the center. The walk to the bathroom was so long, the center employed a person to escort students.
New windows were also brought in, as well as lights, and the floors were all torn up and replaced with new plumbing.
Tucker said the renovations had a major effect on the students and the teachers.
“When you allow a teacher to just teach instead of manage, they get a greater sense of professionalism and that leads to an increased sense of teamwork,” she said.
She said the majority of families who use the day care center are either from Waltham or work in the city.
“We are one of the great secrets of Waltham,” she said. Mav Pardee, the director of the Children’s Investment Fund, said inadequate learning spaces causes a number of problems for students and teachers.
For instance, because many day care centers are in renovated spaces such as churches, acoustics can be an issue.
“If children can’t hear what the adults articulate, they’re not getting the kind of support they are at a critical period in language development,” she said.
Pardee said air quality is another major issue, and can hurt students with asthma.
Having sinks in classrooms can also prevent the spread of viruses. The center did not have sinks in the rooms before the renovation.
Pardee said there needs to be a public funding mechanism to help schools that do not have the money to make renovations through long term, low cost loans.
“The problem is big enough, and widespread enough and important enough that I think we all in society have an investment in where these children go to school,” she said. “Part of quality improvement is making sure kids are spending their day in a space that really supports their teacher’s ability to do their job, makes them feel good about themselves and makes their parents feel very confident.”

Ignacio Laguarda can be reached at 781-398-8004 or ilaguarda@wickedlocal.com.
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SourceWaltham News Tribune