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In selecting where to enroll their kids for early childhood education, families weigh many factors — including location, affordability, programming and availability.
But oftentimes for San Antonio-area families in search of childcare providers, finding a center that best meets their needs can feel like a complicated scavenger hunt.
In an effort to bridge this gap, Pre-K 4 SA and Early Matters San Antonio — initiatives dedicated to improving the early childhood education landscape — have officially launched a search tool called EarlyConnectSA.
The new search tool, which covers Bexar, Comal and Guadalupe counties, consolidates information about quality ratings, programming, availability and financial assistance. It also offers location-based search results to connect families with a quality childcare provider to best serve their children.
Leaders of Pre-K 4 SA and Early Matters San Antonio gathered at the Pre-K 4 SA South Education Center on Tuesday to celebrate the tool’s launch and share the positive impact it can have for families and childcare providers alike.
Sarah Baray, chief executive officer of Pre-K 4 SA, said their work begins with a belief in what is possible for children and the responsibility of making those possibilities easier for families to reach. The tool will connect families with the right solution for them across the community.
“Our goal is not to simply make it easier,” Baray said. “It’s to help more children reach the kind of high-quality early learning they deserve," Baray said. "When we connect families with early learning sooner, we get more opportunities for curiosity, confidence and school readiness to take root across our community.”
About five years ago, Baray said she and the executive director of Early Matters San Antonio, Mark Larson, began talking about the need for a childcare search tool.
“For a long time, and still up until this morning, what you had to do was just go on Google and type in 'childcare,' and then start working the phone — and it takes a huge amount of time,” Larson said. “It’s exhausting, defeating and likewise, on the other side, too often our providers don’t have a way to celebrate what they’re doing well and to celebrate what they have to offer to families. We view (EarlyConnectSA) as being part of the solution to bring all that to pass.”
Larson said the organizations estimate that thousands to tens-of-thousands of parents will visit the site in the coming months as families search for solutions.
Investing in the early childhood education landscape also has a direct impact on the city’s workforce.
“We are supporting two generations at once by creating this tool — children who are building our future for tomorrow and parents who are working toward a greater opportunity and stability today,” Baray said.
Shari Albright, Pre-K 4 SA board member and Early Matters advisory board member, said the tool helps providers tell their stories and make them easier to find for families. Providers can share their curriculum, post their hours, highlight available seats and respond to inquiries.
“For a family, that means so much more useful information out there at the start of their search process,” Albright said. “For a provider, it means another way to connect an available seat with a family who is searching. That’s something we haven’t had in this community, and when those connections lead to enrollment, they can help providers strengthen their business while helping families early on in that search process find that care that they need.”
Barbara Bibb, director of Blessed Sacrament Child Development Center, spoke to the impact she thinks the tool will have for San Antonio-area families.
“I think it’s wonderful, and I feel so blessed that (Pre-K 4 SA and Early Matters San Antonio) are doing this because I think it’s going to connect the city and families,” Bibb said. “I think families feel like it’s such a massive place to look for schools, and they can just go (to the tool) and they can search where they need to search and look at what they want to look at and see what fits for them, and this makes it possible to do it very easily.”
With the launch of this tool, families can now find viable childcare options for their children — with the click of a single link.
Find the EarlyConnectSA search tool at earlyconnectsa.com.
