Ellis Gratitude Breakfast Thanks Donors with News About Exciting Changes

L to R: Paul and Pia Miller and Suzanne Dwyer were among the Ellis Early Learning Fund members who joined us for the Gratitude Breakfast.

On Wednesday, March 11, more than two dozen supporters of the Ellis Early Learning Fund gathered for a delicious breakfast from Flour Bakery + Cafe. This event offered a welcome opportunity to mingle with donors and staff and learn more about the organization’s recent work.

CEO Lauren Cook spoke about two ambitious new initiatives launched this fiscal year: the Family Child Care (FCC) Network and the Center of Excellence (COE).

The FCC Network supports early educators who operate licensed child care out of their homes. Lauren explained the benefits for families and providers alike. For providers who meet Ellis criteria, Ellis assumes the administrative burden of placing children with state vouchers, or those supported by the Department of Families and Children, in homes within the Ellis Network. Ellis also supports FCC providers with relevant, high-quality professional development and a peer cohort.

For families searching for quality child care options, the FCC makes more slots available to serve more children at a lower cost. As Lauren pointed out, “Family child care homes play an important role in supporting middle-income families by providing a more affordable option for those who may not qualify for vouchers but cannot comfortably manage the full tuition at center-based programs like Ellis.”

Lauren also highlighted the Center of Excellence, which is designed to strengthen teacher quality and improve child outcomes by providing meaningful professional development and support to teachers. “This work is new and challenging, but we’re confident it will deepen our impact and support continuous improvement,” Lauren said.

Rosa Turco, Ph.D., Ellis’s Director of Evaluation and Educational Excellence, described how her data-driven work will further Ellis’s goals. With a background in early childhood education and statistical analysis, Rosa is developing observational tools that make teachers’ everyday work visible and capture children’s development over time.

L to R: Lauren and Rosa presented new insights and initiatives at the Gratitude Breakfast.

Through classroom observations, survey data, and child assessments, Rosa will look at how best to meet fundamental expectations for infants and toddlers. “How do infants start to observe and notice; how do toddlers learn to manage emotions and self-regulate? We’re making that everyday work here at Ellis visible so we can model the most effective language and problem-solving skills for educators.”

Rosa’s quality measures focus on some of the hardest parts of teachers’ jobs, such as keeping a positive tone no matter what happens in the classroom and helping children transition from one activity to another. She’s a data lover with a very concrete focus on children.

Because Rosa’s work is ground-breaking, she doesn’t have peers to learn from, and teachers don’t always know what to expect. “The data isn’t supposed to be scary,” Rosa says. “Teachers are starting to see that we’re not here to evaluate them, but to help them unpack what happens in their classrooms so they can do more of what works best. We’re working to provide additional support when we see an opportunity to do better.”

Rosa’s optimism is visionary and infectious. “I love this work because it can make such an impact later in children’s lives,” she says. We know that 90% of brain growth happens during early childhood, and we see gaps start early in infancy, even in our own Ellis community. The better we can understand and address these issues, the better off our children will be, now and in their future lives.”