NH ChILD is a non-profit organization dedicated to transforming the early landscape in New Haven with the goal of providing quality care and education to all children aged birth to 8. Our work is focused on expanding access to early care and improving the quality of care provided with a particular focus on our poor and marginalized communities – most especially our black and brown children and their families. We do this work collectively as we build on the strength of the existing early childhood community in New Haven, including dedicated leadership from the New Haven Early Childhood Council, the City of New Haven, and New Haven Public Schools among others.
Central to our mission is the concept of ideal learning, which emphasizes learning activities grounded in children’s interests, abilities, and talents. To ensure all children are able to experience an ideal learning environment, we aim to increase access by increasing the number of early childhood spaces available, increasing public funding to early care, and establishing a comprehensive online system so that families can easily find resources to meet their early care needs. Additionally, we strive to improve quality through creating strong partnerships with parents, creating opportunities for ongoing professional development for early childhood educators, and strengthening access to high quality local early childhood education degree granting programs.
Our vision:
New Haven Children’s Learning District (NH ChILD) envisions a city where all 15,000 children ages birth to age 8 living in New Haven have access to high-quality early learning experiences.
Our Guiding Principles:
A commitment to equity; just and fair inclusion into a society in which all participate, prosper, and reach their full potential.
Our work is anchored in world-renowned, developmentally-appropriate, place-based, culturally-relevant, early childhood approaches.
Parents, caregivers, educators, and community stakeholders influence, inform, and shape our collective work.
Our Core Values:
- Integrity
- Honesty
- Accountability
- Continuous Learning
Our Approach:
- Place-based
- Bold, ambitious, and charts new ground in early childhood education in New Haven
- Adaptive, anchored in continuous learning, and committed to innovation and experimentation
- Inclusive
- Action-oriented
- Responsive, instructive, and gracious