January 12, 2012 – The Board of Directors welcomed Joffrey Smith as a new member to the board at its meeting of January 12^th.

Joffrey is Owner/Financial Advisor of Joffrey Smith Financial Group, 20 Park Avenue, Worcester and is active in the Worcester community. 

“As a financial advisor and as a former member of the city council, Joff brings valuable knowledge and skill to help our board during these challenging times”, stated board President, Gerald Nugent.

Joff resides at 37 Barry Road, Worcester, MA.  He was appointed by Governor Patrick and Lt. Governor Murray to the Board of Trustees of the State Library of Mass.  He is also a Board member of Masonic Angel Fund and Hourglass Foundation.

Mildred Reid, a longtime member of the Alliance’s Board of Directors, passed away in 1994.  Mildred was a dedicated youth worker who spent many years working with pregnant and parenting teens at several community-based agencies.  In Mildred’s memory, the Board of Directors established the Mildred Reid Award to honor individuals who, like Mildred, have shown dedication and excellence in their work with pregnant and parenting teens.

Worcester Comprehensive Education and Care, Inc. (WCEC), greater Worcester’s premier provider of education and child care services to underprivileged families, continues the celebration of its 40^th Anniversary on November 9^th  with their annual meeting and a special awards banquet that will honor individuals who have provided “Above & Beyond” service to WCEC.

Proceeds from ticket sales and private donations will go toward the $10,000 cost of our “Summer Fun Field Trips” program that provide hands-on learning experiences through field trips to the aquarium, the zoo, and in a nature-focused outdoor learning environment for 60 needy children who are with WCEC in our School Age Program this summer. WCEC needs to raise $10,000 to cover the full cost of this program for nearly 60 needy children.

The November 9^th meeting continues the 40^th Anniversary celebration that began on October 1^st when Congressman James McGovern joined Mayor Joseph O’Brien, State Representative James O’Day and Massachusetts Early Education Commissioner Sherri Killins joined 150 guests in honoring WCEC’s 40 years of service to Worcester at The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts. Also honored were Jose and Elizabeth Rivera who received a certificate of appreciation from Commissioner Killins for their long history of volunteer work with WCEC.

Worcester Comprehensive Education and Care was originally incorporated in 1971 as Great Brook Valley Day Care Services to fill the need to provide after-school programs to GBV residents. The organization now operates as WCEC, Inc., a non-profit dedicated to providing low or no-cost, high-quality childcare services in low income neighborhoods. Since opening their doors 40 years ago, their services have evolved to include infant/toddler and preschool care, school age programs, teen care programs at Burncoat and South High Schools, home based child care in 25 licensed providers’ homes, and Centers at Great Brook Valley and Main South.     

WCEC is transitioning to an organization that is increasingly funded through private grants and donations, and less on state/taxpayer funding. As such, WCEC has begun to operate year round by providing summer programs that include all day field trips to museums, aquariums, zoos, beaches, and farms for children who would not otherwise have the chance to participate in these activities.  Also through donations, WCEC has built five playgrounds to provide exercise and play for the children in the centers and are open to neighborhood children as well.

These events were made possible in part through generous sponsorships from Hanover Insurance Foundation, Citizens Bank, Seven Hills Foundation, Bank of America, Worcester State University, Quinsigamond Community College, Telegram & Gazette, and many other private sponsors.

Worcester Comprehensive looks forward to continuing our celebration of 40 years of successful education, care, and support provided to the low income children and families of Worcester. If you would like to help by sponsoring a child for the “Summer Fun Field Trips” program, contact WCEC to speak with Sandy Brown at 508-852-3792 Ext. 10 to make a contribution, or information on the organization.

About Worcester Comprehensive Education & Care

Worcester Comprehensive Education and Care has a 40 year track record as one of the largest providers of child care in the city of Worcester. WCEC is licensed by the Department of Early Education & Care and is fully accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.  We serve over 350 children and their families each year, ranging in ages from infants to teenagers. Our comprehensive range of services includes infant care, after school programs, home based child care, and support and education for teenage parents. Since 1971 our programs have helped care for and educate thousands of young people.

Also volunteering will be the Young Neighbors:
July 18th – 22nd   St. Aloysius Parish, CT    2 adults and 10 teens
July 25th – 29th   St. Gabriel’s Parish, MA   3 adults and 18 teens
August 1st – 5th   St. Mary’s Parish, MA       2 adults and 10 teens

Thank you to Harry Duchesne, MCPHS, Associate Director of Service Learning & Community Outreach, for the volunteers!

Home Based Child Care is a system of Independent Providers Licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care to provide child care services to children in their home.  In these homes in addition to excellent care, children are exposed to learning opportunities that enhance their school readiness by building and promoting socio- emotional, cognitive, and language development skills.  Because of the ethnic, cultural and language diversity in the homes represented in the system children are exposed to English language skills, and may also be exposed to Spanish and Portuguese languages as well.  All independent contracted providers are licensed by, and follow the mandated policies and regulations of the Massachusetts Dept. of Early Education and Care.  Anyone interested in becoming a provider should contact Maribel Torres at 508-852-3792 Ext. 18. 

• We are happy to announce that WCEC at our Main South Location has hired a full time Assistant Program Director in January 2011.  Laura Arsenault has been an employee of WCEC for 19 years, she has worked at several sites of WCEC, and most recently worked at the Teen Care Program at South High School.  We are very pleased and happy to have her on Board.
• We received a grant from Children’s Investment Fund for $2,400.00 to improve the physical environment for Infant and toddler programs.  The majority of our money ($1,500.00) was spent to purchase a toddler size sink for the toddler classroom.  In addition we were able to purchase a few supplies to help improve the services we provide to our infants and toddlers.
• This year we have applied for another grant through QRIS for the preschool program to purchase equipment, supplies and make some necessary indoor and outdoor improvements. One item we applied for is mulch for our playground; if the grant is approved I will be looking for parent participation to shovel the mulch into the playground.
• Several staff continue to take college courses towards seeking a college degree.
• Carrie Moore, our current Program Director has completed 32 years of employment with WCEC.
• Lillian Santana received a Certificate for Dedication and Commitment to WCEC and a gift certificate; she did not miss any days from work in the past three months.
• Main South is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and each year we have to send in an Annual Report, we have completed three Annual Reports and will send in the Fourth Annual Report by July 31, 2011.

The School Age Program continues to provide a safe place for older children ages 5 to 13 to meet, do homework, play educational games, do arts and craft, cooking, technology and science activities.

Both Teen Care Programs continue to strive to create quality programs to share with our families and achieve success in our programs as we learn and grow together.  We have received an equipment grant for improving physical environments for our infants and toddlers at both programs. We are again this year working with volunteers from Unum and the College of Worcester Consortium to provide weekly workforce readiness and college access curriculum classes to our teen parents. We will have an end of the year conference on May 11th at Unum to celebrate their success. This year we began a new collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Extension Program to provide an educational nutrition program to meet the needs of our teen parents. Classes are held weekly for forty five minutes. Both programs received a mini grant from Worcester Family Partnership and we will be going on a field trip to the New England Aquarium during April vacation. Both programs are in the final stages of accreditation and are anxiously awaiting a site visit.

• We have received an equipment grant from the Children’s Investment Fund for improving physical environments for infants and toddlers in our program. We selected equipment that will help improve the quality of our program by replacing equipment that has started to deteriorate from use. Much of the equipment will help stimulate the children’s development.
• We are also working on the Department Early Education and Care’s grant for Quality Rating Improvement System (QRIS) which addresses quality care. We want to continue to provide safe, healthy indoor and outdoor environments for all our families.
• At the Great Brook Valley Center we are involved in the Massachusetts Children at Play Initiative, funded by Department of Early Education and Care, that will provide trainings and materials on assisting children and families on developing active and healthy lifestyles.  Staff have attended workshops on I am Moving I am learning.
• We held a parent meeting on January 11, 2011 were parents had the opportunity to make a scrap book page of their child.
• We are also planning an ice cream social on June 10, 2011, that will provide parents information on Kindergarten transition.