Children’s Village Honored as a PA Equity in Early Childhood Education Champion!

Children’s Village is proud to share that we have been honored with a Pennsylvania’s Equity in Early Childhood Education Champion Award 2022!

This year, more than 50 outstanding entries were submitted for rigorous judging, and of those entries, Children’s Village received the Silver level award. This distinction reflects Children’s Village’s multi-faceted commitment to equity in the early learning setting, which is made possible by the passion, dedication, and support of our families, staff, Board of Directors, and community partners. 

Creating Culturally Responsive Classrooms

“A hallmark of Children’s Village’s equity efforts includes creating culturally responsive classrooms in which children can share, explore, and learn about themselves and other races and cultures. This helps all children feel accepted and valued, which is pivotal to building the trusting teacher-student relationships that are essential to high-quality early education experiences,” says Mary Graham, Executive Director. Children’s Village teachers also embed social-emotional learning into the curricula to help children gain an understanding on how to treat others with fairness and respect.

After reading stories on racial and cultural differences, teachers engage students in a self-portrait activity that invites children to consider their own identity. Teachers display the creations and children's comments about their favorite features.

Recruiting and Retaining Staff Representing
the Community We Serve

Especially important, teachers and staff at Children’s Village represent the community we serve, and many are bilingual.

Several teachers are parents of children who are or had been enrolled at Children’s Village.  They were hired as members of our part-time teaching staff (formerly called substitutes), and then encouraged to participate in  T.E.A.C.H. (Teacher Education And Compensation Helps) Early Childhood® Pennsylvania Scholarship Program to earn credentials while working. T.E.A.C.H. also supported their enrollment in non-credit-bearing English language courses, which in turn prepared them to pursue credit-bearing course work through subsequent T.E.A.C.H. scholarships. In fact, nearly one-third of our education team began as part-time teaching staff members and many have benefitted from T.E.A.C.H.

Engaging and Respecting All Families as their Children’s First Teachers
Children’s Village also welcomes, respects, and engages all families as partners in children’s learning. Our Family Partnership team members reduce cultural and language barriers, build trust, and establish meaningful two-way communication with families.  Our on-site consulting psychologist supports young learners with special needs and their families.

Felicia Lai, Lead Toddler Teacher, began her Children’s Village career in 1999 as a Teacher’s Aide, when her children were enrolled, and pursued credentials through T.E.A.C.H. Photo taken before COVID protocols.

Encouraging Diverse Perspectives to Inform Programming and Policies

Children’s Village’s equity work also involves ensuring that the perspectives of our diverse staff contribute to education programming and policies, both at Children’s Village and in the community. “We are especially proud that staff members share their time, talent, and viewpoints as members of work groups and committees,” says Ms. Graham.  Most recently, teacher Crystal Hand was selected as a member of P.R.I.D.E. (Positive Racial Identity Development in Early Education) Project Philly Teacher Cohort of 2022, an initiative of First Up: Champions for Early Education; and Sim Yi Loh, Family Partnership Coordinator, serves as Co-Chair, Quality & Racial Equity Subcommittees, Early Care and Education Provider Council.

Advocating for All Children and Families

Sim Loh led recent efforts to increase voter participation, including helping several individuals to register and cast their vote for the first time!

Underscoring our equity commitment are our civic engagement and advocacy efforts. Children’s Village promotes voter registration, voter education, and census participation.  Above all, our staff, families, and Board members raise their voices to inform public policy, including advocating for increased public funding for high-quality early learning.  “Equitable access to high-quality early education requires equitable public investments. Research has long affirmed that investing in the early learning years, a critical stage of development, can make a difference for children that is significant and lasting.  These investments pay for themselves many times over in the long run,” says Ms. Graham.

Urging Others to Join Educators to Open the Door to Opportunity for All Children
 
“Children’s Village is grateful for this honor.  As educators, we are keenly aware that many children do not have the opportunity to benefit from high-quality early learning and we must continue to work to open the door for them.  But the responsibility is not ours alone.  Each one of us must ensure that all children, no matter who they are, where they live, or the extent of their resources, can reach their potential,” says Ms. Graham.

Capping a Longstanding Commitment to Equity in Education

Children’s Village’s work to remove barriers to high-quality learning for all children is longstanding and this honor caps other recognition for our efforts, including:  one of only ten programs nationwide recognized for Excellence in Engaging Diverse Families by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC); Award for Outstanding Equality Program from The Philadelphia Inquirer’s inaugural Diversity and Inclusion Award; and the Early Childhood Action Collective at Public Health Management Corporation  (PHMC) named Children’s Village as one of eight Philadelphia programs demonstrating high-quality inclusive practices. 

For details on the PA Equity in Early Childhood Education award and other honorees, visit https://www.pakeys.org/equity/awards-2022/

 Learn more about Children's Village's mission, vision, and core values here.

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