Educare DC works to eliminate the opportunity gap for young children experiencing poverty in Washington, DC, and helps them build the skills necessary for success in kindergarten and beyond.

Educare DC serves 424 children from prenatal to age five with high-quality early learning using a holistic family approach. We operate programs at our two campuses at Parkside and at IDEA Public Charter School, as well as through four partner sites across Wards 7 and 8.

Designed to support children and their families, our program model includes four core features:

Data Utilization: Ongoing tracking of children’s progress provides feedback to teachers and parents about how to better support individual children.

Embedded Professional Development: Highly qualified instructional coaches work with teachers in the classroom, modeling instruction techniques and providing feedback and support.

High-Quality Teaching Practices: To best support students, we prioritize high-quality teaching practices such as continuity of care and low teacher/child ratios.

 Family Engagement: Our family engagement team works with families to build goal-oriented relationships that support family wellbeing.

Outside of our core early learning programs, Educare DC also partners with four small child care centers in Wards 7 and 8, helping to improve program quality by providing wraparound support services to children and families, as well as teacher training and professional development.

Our District-wide training and advocacy work supports early childhood educators and young children across the city, as well as the early childhood education field at large.

Educare DC is also part of the national Educare Learning Network of 25 high-quality early learning programs. The Educare model has been piloted, refined, and strengthened in communities across the country, and consistently demonstrates its effectiveness in supporting young children’s growth and development.