OUR VISION

Each and every child thrives in a society dedicated to ensuring their full potential.

Our work

PUBLIC POLICY & ADVOCACY

MaineAEYC informs our network about local, state, and federal policies affecting children, families, and educators. MaineAEYC advocates on behalf of the early care and education workforce, families, and young children as part of our commitment to developing a system of quality early childhood education.

We encourage educators & families to join us in this work, providing tools & resources to get involved and self-advocate. This is why we created the LEaP program.

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

MaineAEYC is committed to providing high-quality professional learning opportunities to early childhood (birth to 8) educators across the state so that they can best serve the children and families they work with.

This work includes facilitating the T.E.A.C.H. scholarship, which  provides child care workers with the funds to cover almost all of their tuition, book expenses, and paid study time as they pursue associate or bachelor degrees in the early childhood field.

We also host and coordinate the annual Statewide ECE Conference, providing up to 14 hours of training on important topics in the field.

FACILITATION AND SUPPORT

MaineAEYC strives to support educators, families, and children to thrive. For this work, we facilitate several smaller projects and networks, including:

  • Maine Early Childhood Outdoors Network (MeECO), an inclusive statewide network made up of early childhood stakeholders who support outdoor and nature-based learning experiences.

  • Building Bridges, a program to facilitate collaboration in communities from child care facilities to preschools to elementary schools so that they work together to develop solutions that address the needs of children, teachers, and families.

Our Impact

  • OVER 60 MILLION DOLLARS IN ONGOING STATE FUNDING FOR THE ECE WORKFORCE

    With MaineAEYC, early childhood educators and parents raise their voices for change. Our grassroots organizing in public policy education and outreach has helped achieve expanded early childhood consultation, a simpler process for families to secure child care subsidies, subsidy reimbursement rates for providers raised to the federally recommended 75th percentile, and wage supplements for early educators working in child care.

  • MEMBERS OF MAINEAEYC—AND COUNTING!

    We have valued professional members from Family Child Care, Elementary Schools, Child Care Centers, Head Start programs, and Higher Ed. Parents and families of young children are also joining MaineAEYC to ensure the best for their children and the teachers who serve them!

  • YEARS SERVING EDUCATORS AND FAMILIES IN MAINE

    MaineAEYC became an affiliate of NAEYC in 2004. We are a statewide membership organization. We partner with local, state, and national organizations to multiply our impact.

Join Us

Early childhood educators and families work every day to make a difference in the lives of young children. NAEYC and MaineAEYC work to support these remarkable individuals by amplifying their voices and passionately advocating for what we know to be right for children, their families, and educators.

BECOME A MEMBER

NAEYC and MaineAEYC offer resources for families and professionals, policy alerts, online communities, publications, events and more.

LEARN MORE

DONATE

Help MaineAEYC promote high-quality early learning and safe, joyful lives for all Maine children, birth through age 8.

DONATE NOW

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