Happy New Year!
We wish you and your family a healthy and happy 2026.
Looking back over 2026, the Early Childhood Collaborative of Southington staff and board members exhibited at over 40 community events or "office hours" around town where we connected with families. Books, materials to develop fine motor skills, or kits to support the SPARKLER mobile app were distributed at these events, with the Read to Grow Bookmobile, at the Family Resource Center and via Southington Community Services.
We received the Southington YMCA’s Youth Development award, held a community read with the Southington Public Library and Southington Public School District, a community cafe on the connection between healthy eating and brain development and our annual State of Early Childhood presentation and partnered with the Southington Police Department on a car seat safety check.
We have also made some big changes this year, including becoming a Local Governance Partner and opening our new office space. Our new mailing address is 35 North Main Street, Box 10, Suite 3A-8, Southington, CT 06489.
Check out what we did in 2025 in our year-in-review video.
The Southington Public School kindergarten waiver screening sessions are filling up fast. If you want your child, who will turn five years of age on or before September 2, 2026, and before January 1, 2027, to enter Kindergarten in the fall of 2026 sign up for a session screening online.
You can learn more about the kindergarten registration process, which will start in March, and preschool options on our website.
Presentation at Southington Board of Education - January 8, 2026, 7 pm - Executive Director Joanne Kelleher will present at the Board of Education meeting on Thursday, January 8th, on the ECCS and the LGP. View the meeting agenda here.
ECCS Office Hours - January 14, 2026, 11 am-1 pm - Stop by the ECCS Office, 35 North Main Street, Suite 3A-8, Southington, CT 06489, and see the Executive Director, Joanne Kelleher. She can answer your questions about raising children here in town. Children are welcome.
Southington Early Childhood Community Table - January 15th, 2026, 1 pm-2 pm - Join us for our second Community Table, “a collaborative space that serves as a neutral, inclusive forum where diverse organizations, parents, and stakeholders come together to engage in open dialogue, share insights, and work towards collective community goals” around the needs of the families and caregivers of young children in our town. Register for this FREE event here.
ECCS at the Library - January 22, 2026, 9 am-12 pm - Stop by the Southington Public Library and see the ECCS Executive Director, Joanne Kelleher. She can answer your questions about raising children here in town. Look for the ECCS table in the Children’s Department.
For more details and other upcoming events, visit www.southingtonearlychildhood.org/events/ or follow us on our social media.
If you have benefited from the work of the Early Childhood Collaborative of Southington over the past years, please consider making a donation.
Did you know that the ECCS does not receive funding from the Town of Southington or the Board of Education? Our work to support the parents and caregivers of Southington’s youngest citizens is funded primarily through grants we have applied for.
Receiving contributions from individuals like you helps support our operations and allows us to show our larger funders that there is strong community backing for this work.
There are many ways that you can support our work -
- Volunteer or serve on the Board of Directors
- Get us something from our wishlist
- Advocate
- Donate online
- Follow, Like, and Share our social media
Facebook @ECCSouthington
Instagram @ECCSouthington
Threads @ECCSouthington
X/Twitter @ecc_southington
Bluesky @eccsouthington.bsky.social
Copyright © 2025 Early Childhood Collaborative of Southington, all rights reserved.
Early Childhood Collaborative of Southington
35 North Main Street, Box 10, Suite 3A-8
Southington, CT 06489