Each Child. Every Community.

“Law enforcement leaders, like me, recognize that early childhood education programs are among the most powerful weapon to prevent crime and violence. One common thread among many successful students is that early in their lives, they were taught, encouraged...

“Today’s youngest children will be the workforce of tomorrow. It won’t be enough for these future graduates to compete for jobs with others living in North Carolina or the Southeast. Instead, our future economy will be determined by their...

  "Richard is teaching my assistants and me the value of a quality preschool experience and setting. He came into the early childhood inclusion program with his own language, very little eye contact, no interaction among his peers, had never...

"As the nation's leader of public-private partnerships to strengthen early learning outcomes for children, Smart Start has been a primary source of policy, infrastructure and professional development support for early childhood practitioners for over fifteen years." -Susan DeVenny, Executive Director,...

"It was such a delight to see one of our family’s favorite recipes published in the Smartie Pies Cookbook. This recipe is such a joy to make with my three children, but especially with Tykel who loves peaches....

Dear Senator Berger, I want to say a few words about Smart Start and what it means to my family. The most important reason that I am for Smart Start is the fact that it has been vital in the lives...

"My daughter, Evelyn, has been going to Little Teddies since she was 3 months old. She has always been a picky eater, but since they started the NAP SACC program, she has been eating healthy foods at school. I...

 “We wanted to provide an environment that would introduce the children to the earth and how things grow, to create a hunger in them to eat healthy and challenge them to exercise and encourage interaction." - Stephanie Grennan, Director of...

“I’m a lead teacher in the 4-year old room at McGill Child Development Center. I wanted to go back to school to study early education, but knew that time and money would be a challenge. But, the Smart Start...

“One thing we’ve learned through the NAP SACC program is that birthday parties don’t have to be centered on cupcakes, ice cream and juice. For celebrations, we now ask parents to bring healthy food options like low-fat yogurt,...