Legislators Tour Early Education Programs Across CT

With children happily playing and learning all around them, House Majority Leader Rep. Denise Merrill (D-Mansfield) joined Elizabeth Aschenbrenner, Director of Early Childhood Initiatives for EASTCONN; Ann Pratt, Executive Director of the CT Early Childhood Alliance; Dorothy C. Goodwin Elementary School Principal Debra Adamczyk and early education staff for a tour of the early learning program at Goodwin on Jan. 14.

As the adults talked, children played with puzzles and play-dough and built block structures. They were socializing with their peers and learning how to problem-solve.

The next day, Senator Jonathan Harris, who serves the 5th Senatorial District of West Hartford, Bloomfield, Burlington and Farmington, visited Bloomfield Early Learning Center (BELC) on Jan. 15.

Harris quickly found himself at kid-level; playing with a chicken puppet, at the water table or molding “goo.” One little girl explained to him why she chose to color a picture the way she did.

Also taking part in the tour where Deborah Lord, BELC's executive director, Gail Nolan, Bloomfield's School Readiness liaison and Samantha Dynowski, CT Early Childhood Alliance's director of outreach and advocacy.

BELC is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, which means it must meet all 10 program standards of the NAEYC Early Childhood Program. BELC offers year-round operation and serves children ages 3-4. The center serves 85 children.

In Wallingford on Jan. 27, Rep. Elizabeth Esty found herself face-to-face with the children at Wallingford Community Day Care Center. She even had some time to play games with them, while also talking with staff, including Executive Director Kathy Queen, who spoke to Rep. Esty about the on-going funding challenges facing the program and emphasized the urgent need to sustain local and state child care subsidies for parents, particularly in this economic downturn.

The Wallingford Community Day Care Center serves 24 infants and toddlers, 50 preschoolers, and 30 school age kids and is open to parents and children year-round. The center is NAEYC accredited.

The tours were organized by the CT Early Childhood Alliance and gave the legislators the opportunity to experience quality early learning in action, highlight quality early learning programs and allow legislators to hear directly from the staff about challenges they face in early care and education.