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private early childhood program.
“The leap, however, came with a 
steep learning curve,” Kearney says. 
“Running a private childcare cen­
ter regulated by the Department of 
Health while simultaneously operat­
ing district-funded classrooms gov­
erned by the Department of Educa­
tion meant learning an entirely new 
way of doing business. It was like 
driving a car while building it.”
The transition required far more 
than opening new classrooms. “There 
were new reporting requirements, 
separate financial systems, different 
staffing models, calendars and expec­
tations,” she says. “There were days 
when it felt like two separate orga­
nizations operating under one roof.”
Yet the challenges began giving 
way to unexpected rewards. “The 
teachers embraced new opportuni­
ties for professional 
development,” Kear­
ney says. “Universal 
Pre-K’s requirements 
for certified educa­
tors, smaller class sizes 
and 
evidence-based 
curriculum raised the 
bar not only for the 
district-funded class­
rooms but throughout 
our center.”
Three years later, Kearney speaks 
less about compliance and more 
about impact. “My teachers on the 
private side now want to do Tools of 
the Mind,” she says, referring to the 
state-approved, research-based curric­
ulum used in the district’s Universal 
Pre-K classrooms. “It’s been a win for 
the children.”
With all the operational changes 
and professional development, Ke­
arney says the definition of success 
has always been the same. “I’ve never 
measured kindergarten readiness by 
how many letters a child can iden­
tify or how high they can count,” she 
says. “It’s learning how to be part of 
a classroom, how to ask for help and 
how to work through disappoint­
ment. Those are the skills that be­
come the foundation for everything 
that follows.”
Years after saying “no,” Kearney 
has a very different perspective. What 
she once viewed as a risk has become 
another way to strengthen Village 
Babies and the children and families 
it serves. “I really didn’t think much 
of it at first,” she says. “Now I see 
what it’s done for children, for teach­
ers and for families.”
Maplewood resident Carly Hag­
gerty knows exactly what that looks 
like. Her daughter, Lily, attends 
Montrose Early Childhood Center.
“Lily skips into her classroom ev­
ery single day, so happy to go,” Hag­
gerty says. “Montrose is such a warm, 
welcoming place where the teachers 
give children the confidence to be­
come more independent and build 
strong friendships. As a public school 
teacher in a neighboring district, I 
know firsthand how difficult and 
costly early childcare can be, so hav­
ing access to this program has truly 
been a game changer for our family.”
Long before Will Meyer became 
president of the South Orange-Ma­
plewood Board of Education, he was 
a parent deciding where his daughter 
would begin her educational jour­
ney. She was part of the district’s pre­
school program, giving him a first­
hand look at what early childhood 
education could mean for a family.
As a father and board president, 
Meyer has watched Universal Pre-K 
evolve, serving hundreds of fami­
lies. “It’s just a tremendous program 
and gives students a strong start be­
fore they head into our elementary 
schools,” he says. 
Meyer sees that same opportunity 
extending to other families through­
out the district.  “The entire board 
strongly supports the Universal Pre-
K program by making it available 
to as many students as possible,” he 
says. “Especially students who might 
not otherwise have the means to ac­
cess private preschool programs.”
Families interested in Universal 
Carla Haggerty reads to her daughter Lily's class at the 
Montrose Early Childhood Center.
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