Our Mission
The mission of the Cambridge Office of Early Childhood (OEC) is to connect the city’s early childhood ecosystem, align early childhood services and information, and advocate for and advance the needs of all young children, their families, and the early childhood workforce.
Our Vision
Every child and family in Cambridge has access to high quality early care and education experiences. As a result, all children enter school ready to thrive academically, physically, socially, and emotionally, and continue to do so through third grade and beyond.
Our Commitment To Equity
All children have the right to equitable early childhood experiences that enable them to achieve their full potential as engaged learners and valued members of society. Thus, all early childhood educators and family support staff have a professional obligation to advance equity. They can do this best when they are effectively supported by the settings in which they work and when they and their wider communities embrace diversity and full inclusion as strengths, uphold fundamental principles of fairness and justice, and work to eliminate structural inequities that limit equitable opportunities for children and their families. (Adapted from NAEYC’s Position Statement on Advancing Equity)
Our History
Upon the recommendation of a Cambridge Early Childhood Task Force (a City Manager appointed group consisting of school and city officials, parents, early childhood experts, community members, and others) the Birth to 3rd Grade Partnership was formally launched in 2016. This new organization was charged with implementing a set of recommendations developed by the task force to improve early education and care throughout the community and to ensure that all children receive high quality early education and care beginning with prenatal care and extending through 3rd grade. As such, the Birth to 3rd Grade Partnership has worked throughout the last five years to develop its infrastructure, creating cornerstone programs and supports like its quality improvement program for center-based child care and family child care homes, and its scholarship program that provides funding and support to under-resourced preschool-aged children and their families so that they can enroll in one of several high quality early childhood programs in the city.
Under new leadership and with new insights and opportunities highlighted by the pandemic, in 2021 the Birth to 3rd Grade Partnership embarked on a strategic planning process with the goal of refining its vision, developing its mission, and creating concrete goals and objectives that will guide the organization’s work over the next five years, and beyond. The primary focus continues to be on ensuring that all children have universal access to high quality early childhood experiences that prepare them for school and life; recognizing that early childhood educators are a key component of creating a system of high quality in this field.
The strategic planning process identified five central goals. These goals are:
- Support the growth and development of the early care and education workforce
- Improve and align program quality across program settings
- Be the hub for families
- Connect and advocate for the ecosystem
- Coordinate the ecosystem to implement universal pre-k
Through the strategic planning process and the development of these goals, it was discovered that a greater level of understanding and clarity was needed regarding the role of the Birth to 3rd Grade Partnership within the school district and city, the scope of its work, and further definition around who it serves and how. With that, it was decided that the Birth to 3rd Grade Partnership would become the Cambridge Office of Early Childhood in 2022. All of the existing work of B3 will continue under this newly branded office. In addition, this office will lead the work of designing and developing Universal Pre-K for the city of Cambridge.