Jeff O’Hara and Leigh Lamphere — owners of Part 2, parent company of the Part 2 Afterschool Program, Part 2: The Early Years, and The Homestead Schools for Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers — opened The Homestead Preschool in South Burlington five years ago to serve families who struggled to access quality child care. This provided 70 toddler and preschool spaces for the families of this community, serving children from eight school districts in Chittenden County and beyond. In 2022, they expanded, opening a new school to offer 42 infant and toddler spaces next door to the main site.

With the certainty of more Act 76 funding to come, the duo opened the newly renovated Homestead School at Lakewood in South Burlington — a two-story school with seven classrooms, which serves 80 children, ages six weeks to five years old — in August 2023.

"The state's commitment and investment in early childhood education has been integral in our growth and development," said Jeff and Leigh. "Without this investment, none of what we've been able to accomplish would have been possible."

We'll stop at the Homestead School at Lakewood as part of the Courage in Action Tour on Wednesday, October 25. Find more details and register here.

In 2011, Heather Smires opened ABC & LOL Child Care Center in St. Johnsbury— a second go at running her own program after taking a hiatus to care for her own children. She served 26 children and their families then. Today, ABC & LOL continues to expand its services, offering PreK, summer camp, and afterschool programs across St. J and Peacham. ABC & LOL staffs 65 people and serves over 200 children. 

The program recently received a Strengthening Families grant, which allowed the team to create 55 new child care slots, in addition to a Room for Me grant to expand its afterschool program. 

Act 76 funding will support the sustainability of these programs, creating a reliable, quality child care option for these communities. "We are making that much needed difference," said Heather, "one that each child will hopefully remember as my families did from my first center in Danville."

We'll stop at the ABC & LOL Child Care Center as part of the Courage in Action Tour on Thursday, November 2. Find more details and register here.

Apple Tree Learning Centers launched in 1998 under the name of Stowe Kids Company. Since then, the program has expanded to include kindergarten and after school programs, as well as summer camps. 

Anticipating Act 76 funding, owner Sonja Raymond and director Nicole Walker have taken on a building expansion that will include three additional classrooms for toddlers and PreK — allowing the program to offer 35 new child care slots. 

"This growth would not have been possible without our talented and dedicated early childhood educators," said Nicole. That's why the company is directing the new funding into a permanent, six percent pay increase for its 31 ECEs. "When teachers are paid what they deserve, it improves programs' ability to hire and retain quality teachers, which allows us to serve more kiddos. "

We'll stop at Apple Tree Learning Centers as part of the Courage in Action Tour on Tuesday, November 7. Find more details and register here.

Beaver Brook Children's School in Wilmington, VT was founded in 2021 by Julie Koehler with the mission to provide affordable, high-quality, nature-based early education programs to Wilmington and surrounding towns. Beaver Brook currently serves 25 local families during the school year, and about 75 families during the summer months. The community immediately rallied around Beaver Brook to help support Julie’s mission.

In June 2021, the Wilmington Select Board announced that Beaver Brook Children’s School had received approval to get $40,000 via the town’s one percent local option tax fund. Since then, Beaver Brook has also received the Expanding Access afterschool and summer camp grant, the Building Communities Grant, the Make Way For Kids grant, and start-up support from Let’s Grow Kids. With anticipated Act 76 funding, Beaver Brook has allocated funds to pay staff compensation that reflects expertise and educational achievements, offer annual staff bonuses, and purchase new consumable curricular materials.

We'll stop at the Beaver Brook Children's School as part of the Courage in Action Tour on Tuesday, November 14. Find more details and register here.