Local organization expands its Educare program

Educare Chicago Teacher Lisa LaRue. PHOTO BY TIA CAROL JONES.
Educare Chicago Teacher Lisa LaRue. PHOTO BY TIA CAROL JONES.

Local organization expands its Educare program 

By Tia Carol Jones

The Administration for Children and Families has announced grants for federal Head Start Expansion and Preschool Development. Recently, it was announced that Start Early was awarded $6.3 million to expand its services and bring the Educare Model to Lake County.

Educare Chicago is Start Early’s learning program geared toward birth to 5-year-olds, which is located on the south side of the city. It opened in 2000 and has a network of 25 schools that serve children from six weeks old to 5 years old.

Lisa LaRue has been an Educare Chicago teacher for 17 years. Throughout her time, she has seen families come and go. She has also seen families come, go and come back. She said expanding Head Start is vital because it gives more families access to high quality early learning.

“I have learned when you help a child, you help a community,” she said.

LaRue said working with families has shown her the importance of instilling kindergarten readiness skills in children. She was one of the teachers at Educare that helped start Kindergarten Corner, which helped families, and their children ease jitters about moving from Head start to kindergarten as a way to bring about success in the next chapter of the children’s lives.

LaRue said that Educare Chicago offers a wealth of resources for parents. One resource is the Educare free store, where parents can get essential items like coats, haircare products and diapers. There is also an on-site garden that gives children an opportunity to learn about vegetables and the families can take the produce home. Those vegetables are also used for classroom food experiences, which helps the children become more open to trying new food.

“When families are involved, we know it can lead to positive health outcomes,” she said.

LaRue said Educare is constantly evolving to make a positive impact for children and their families. She has seen herself and her colleagues grow during her time there. She said the teachers are also seeking educational opportunities to learn new tools to increase student outcomes and try to help close the achievement and opportunity gap. LaRue is studying at the University of Illinois at Chicago and seeking her Bachelor’s Degree in Human Development.

Jeff Hild, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Administration for Children and Families, talked about how his daughter’s childcare teacher connected his family with resources for his daughter who has autism and at one point was non-verbal. He said the work that early childhood and Head Start educators do, ripples out in ways they do not even know about.

“The folks that are with kids in the classroom know what works best in those classrooms. They know what policies we need to put in place to have children succeed. The parents of those kids know what we need to do. So, our job is to create the avenues to listen to those folks,” he said.

Hild said since day one, the Biden-Harris Administration made it clear that the care economy and childcare would be front and center. It secured $2.5 billion in increases to the Head Start program and $3.5 billion in childcare investments on top of $40 billion through the American Rescue Plan, which served as a lifeline for childcare centers that were affected during the pandemic.

“Start Early’s direct-service programs across Illinois and here in Chicago continue to be exemplars of excellence in Early Head Start and Head Start early childhood education,” said Diana Rauner, President of Start Early. “Our on-the-ground experiences allow us to be innovative in how we utilize Head Start funding to reach more families and most effectively respond to the unique needs of communities through quality early learning and care.”

For more information about Start Early, visit www.startearly.org and for information about Educare, visit www.educarechicago.org.

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