Learning All Ways
We're Open!
Thank you from the bottom
of our hearts!
After months of closure as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wonderspring is thrilled to announce that all our centers have reopened following CDC guidelines. In the weeks leading up to the re-opening, center directors and staff prepared to ensure the safety of our children, families and staff. In addition to having all sites professionally cleaned, new health and safety policies including procedures related to drop-off and pick-up, sanitizing and disinfecting and personal protective equipment, were implemented. To help familiarize parents with the new safety procedures, Wonderspring created videos , sent written communication and invited parents to participate in zoom meetings. Children also had the opportunity to meet virtually with their teachers before returning to the classroom. As a result of everyone’s efforts our re-opening went off without a hitch and our children are thrilled to be enjoying the summer with their teachers and friends.
Tell your representatives to support early childhood education
As many parents who have recently struggled to juggle work and caring for their children can tell you: child care is the engine that drives the economy . Nearly 80 percent of parents with young children work outside of the home. Without reliable childcare, the vast majority would be unable to participate in the workforce.

Yet even before the economic crisis resulting from the pandemic, the childcare sector struggled to remain afloat as standards for care and qualifications for staff have increased while payment rates remain virtually stagnant. Today, after months of closure and an uncertain future, that already fragile sector is quite literally gasping for breath.

That's why it is more important than ever to let your representatives know that Federal and State efforts to restore the economy must make survival of the child care sector a top priority by providing significant, flexible funding to child care. Without aggressive efforts to ensure the stability of childcare, economic recovery will not be possible.  

Now is the time for bold action. We cannot sit back and hope that the world will return to normalcy. Rather we must reinforce the glue that keeps our workforce intact. 

To learn more about how to contact your legislators and other ways to advocate for early childhood go here .
We just want to take a moment to thank all of our families and partners who so generously helped support Wonderspring throughout our closure (check out the video above). As a nonprofit, the COVID-19 pandemic hit Wonderspring particularly hard, as we, like many centers throughout the region, were closed and unable to collect tuition. Because we know our teachers and staff are the heart of what we do, it was important for us to do everything possible to continue to pay our teachers and staff during this time. We are so grateful for the outpouring of support (both emotional and financial) that we received from our families and partners as we navigated this challenge. Their efforts underscored what a special place Wonderspring is and made us want to work even harder to be there for families moving forward. If you made a donation during the pandemic, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. If you've been thinking about donating, it's not too late. We're still working to make up for months without tuition and added expenses related to our new health and safety guidelines all while maintaining the highest level of quality. Wonderspring is a nonprofit organization and all donations are tax-deductible. Your gift will help ensure that we can continue to improve access to high-quality education and care throughout the region.  
Study highlights importance
of high-quality care
At Wonderspring our number one value is providing the highest-quality early learning and care and we are proud that all of our centers have achieved a Keystone STAR 4 rating indicating the highest level of quality. The importance of that focus on quality was affirmed by a new study, published in the Journal of Child Development

The longitudinal study examined how quality center-based care affected the early cognitive and language development in 89 African American children ages 6 to 36 months. It concluded that higher quality care was related to higher measures of cognitive development, language development and communication skills even after adjusting for selected child and family characteristics.The study also found that children in classrooms with recommended child:adult ratios had better language skills and those in classrooms that met recommendations regarding teacher education had better cognitive and receptive language skills.