2026 State of Early Childhood Presentation
On May 28, 2026, the Early Childhood Collaborative of Southington hosted their annual “State of Early Childhood in Southington” presentation and breakfast. Twenty-nine people attended representing the Southington Public School district, elected officials, businesses, non-profit organizations, funders, ECCS board members, childcare providers, healthcare, Parent Ambassadors and other parents.
The Opening slideshow that displayed during breakfast, highlighted the ECCS’s work over the year.
Births and Kindergarten Start Age
Joanne Kelleher, Executive Director of the ECCS, gave updates about the birth rates in Southington. See the ECCS Presentation Slides page #2. We talked about how the removal of the kindergarten waiver process starting in fall 2027 will impact the enrollment for the next kindergarten and PreK4 classes.
Additional demographic information is available in the ECCS Community Data.
Childcare Availability
See ECCS Presentation Slides pages #3-4. Although staffing issues and affordability continue, Southington has seen an improvement in availability of spots at childcare centers due to the opening of new centers and a change in ratios. But the number of licensed family childcare homes has continued to drop from 25 in 2020 to 19 this May with more planning to close. For preschool programs, the number of schools remained the same, but programs had to adjust their age cut-off or expand their offerings for PreK5 students who couldn’t start kindergarten.
Local Governance Partner
Joanne gave an overview of the Early Start CT initiative and the role of the Local Governance Partners (LGP), see ECCS Presentation Slides pages #5-8. The OEC has more details at Early Start CT, including the Resources page.
Local Needs Assessment
Joanne then discussed the Local Needs Assessment the ECCS is required to complete as the LGP, see ECCS Presentation Slides pages #8-16. A Parent/Caregiver survey was conducted in May and the results were shared. The attendees were then broken into groups and asked to look closer at the results and answer provide feedback on these questions.
Children and Family Characteristics
Central question: You want to paint a picture of the children and families in your community. How would you describe them based on the data the OEC provided as well as other data you have collected?
Child and Family Basic Needs, Health, and Well-Being
Central question: How are the basic needs, health, and overall well-being of children and families in your community supported and addressed?
Additional Supports for Children and Families
Central question: What additional supports are needed and exist for children and families in our community, including for children and families with specific needs?
Strengths and Gaps
Central question: Based on all the data you collected and your initial interpretations of the data above, discuss the strengths, gaps, and focus areas for young children and the families your community, utilizing the below prompts as a guide.
Focus Areas
Central question: Following the overall data analysis above, identify your LGP’s top focus areas for increasing the well-being of young children and their families in your community. These focus areas will form the foundation of your Community Plan.
This feedback is being incorporated into the Local Needs Assessment. The two remaining parts of the Parent Survey, Employment and Childcare Needs, will be reviewed, along with the results of the Provider Survey, at the next ECCS Provider/Community Table meeting on June 17th.
Stakeholders and parents can get more involved with the ECCS by joining the LGP Community Table advisory group or the ECCS board of directors (contact Joanne if interested), making a donation and sharing information.
Thank you to everyone who attended and provided their feedback. This free event was funded by a grant from the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood via the LGP Intermediary, Shine Early Learning.
