Early Childhood Education
Maher Charitable Foundation has long believed that philanthropy can help expand and improve childcare and early childhood learning in New Jersey. The evidence is clear: high-quality early childcare and education has a positive two-generation impact. Children get a stronger start in school, with greater opportunities for academic and future success, and parents can go to work confident that their children are safe and well-cared for.
To date, Maher has invested in early childhood facilities, advocacy for greater public investment in early childhood education, and enhanced professional development for early childhood caregivers and teachers.
Facilities
We help create and expand early learning facilities that enhance children’s lives and transform neighborhoods. Maher Charitable Foundation has promoted the concept that early childhood facilities are a child’s “third teacher” and has invested in high-quality learning spaces for children from birth through age 5.
In the Ironbound neighborhood of Newark’s East Ward, Maher worked with Ironbound Community Corporation to build an infant/toddler wing for its Early Learning Center.
In Passaic, Maher partnered with the Henry & Marilyn Taub Foundation to renovate and expand Children’s Day School, a 114-year-old center educating children in this largely first-generation immigrant community.
In Newark’s Clinton Hill neighborhood, Maher constructed a state-of-the-art early learning center for 198 children from 6 weeks to 5, enabling two longtime high-quality providers, Clinton Hill Community & Early Childcare Center and La Casa de Don Pedro, to partner in serving local families.
Advocacy
We advocate for more public investment in early care and learning, from building more early learning centers to making childcare more available and affordable for working families to expanding pre-K to more communities across the state.
Pre-K Expansion
Maher Charitable Foundation led the effort to fund the expansion of pre-K from 35 to more than 175 school districts. Through the nonprofit organization, Pre-K Our Way, Maher and 10 other philanthropic organizations joined former governors, Tom Kean and Jim Florio, along with statewide child advocacy and business organizations, to encourage the state legislature to fund the 2008 mandate.
To date, more than $187 million has been appropriated for expansion with bipartisan support, and more than 16,600 more children are in pre-K in more than 175 districts, many in a mixed delivery system that includes community-based providers.
We believe that implementation is equally important in making sure that the policies we advocate for are fully realized. Maher Charitable Foundation has funded the acclaimed National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers (NIEER) and Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ), the leading state advocacy organization for children’s issues. Both organizations assist local school districts and community providers in applying for expansion; they encourage a mixed delivery system that enhances the diversity of the early childhood workforce and supports long-standing community organizations.
Professional Development
Without well-trained and compensated caregivers and early childhood educators, NJ’s early childcare and education system cannot meet the expanding needs of families. Maher Charitable Foundation supports enhanced training and compensation of early childhood caregivers and teaching staff.
The foundation has funded a professional learning community at Program for Parents to deepen the connections, knowledge, and skills of family childcare providers in Essex County.
Partnerships
Maher Charitable Foundation works with other philanthropic partners in the state, including the NJ Early Years Funders’ Collaborative, and nationally through the Early Childhood Funders Collaborative. We encourage other philanthropies to invest in early childhood and to partner on effective advocacy and programs.
