Community Training and Professional Development Department
Our training goes beyond the classroom. It takes a village to raise well-rounded children. In addition to the classroom education we provide at our four early care programs, we offer an extensive training program available to parents and other educators in the community who want to learn about:
Community Training and Professional Development
Over the past 45 years, we have developed into the hub for quality professional development in our region. We have a robust group of early care consultants and training specialists that travel all over Hampton Roads to provide early childhood education resources to the communities in our area for center-based and family-home teachers and directors/owners, early care educators and advocates, and parents.
Children’s Harbor training programs offer an incredible variety of benefits:
- Provide ECE resources for the community: center-based and family-home teachers and directors/owners, early care educators and advocates, and parents.
- Serve as the Local Coordinator for the Eastern Region Virginia Quality program in supporting a Technical Assistance Team of Specialists and Raters with their monthly activities in over 150 Virginia Quality engaged programs programs in SHR.
- Sponsor interactive trainings, workshops and conferences with pertinent and trending ECE topics in mind.
- Offer discounted rates to our regional ECE Conference “Raising the Bar”, hosted annually, each Fall.
- Coordinate the Adult Literacy efforts in Portsmouth in partnership with Portsmouth Reads and the Portsmouth Public Schools.
- Facilitate the monthly Provider training series in the cities of Portsmouth, Chesapeake, and Virginia Beach in conjunction with the municipality ECE initiatives.
- Offer consultation and training services through our On-Site Solutions Training Program that provides a customizable training plan focused on special topics, needs assessment, technical assistance, mentoring, and coaching.
- Disseminate information and membership applications for the following organizations: National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Virginia Association for the Education of Young Children (VAAEYC), Southern Early Childhood Association (SECA), Southeastern Chapter of Virginia’s Association for the Education of Young Children, Children’s Harbor-Places and Programs for Children (CHPPC).
- Offer assistance with NAEYC accreditation process.
- Help ECE professionals obtain CDA credentials.
- Publish and distribute “The Link”, a monthly newsletter with pertinent ECE resources, news and updates.
- Provide financial assistance through the emergency child care voucher program.
- Coordinate local advocacy events- i.e. “Week of the Young Child” and “Child Care Provider Recognition Day” events.
- Offer Membership to a local early childhood organization (CH-PPC).
- Host the Eastern Region’s Infant-Toddler Specialist team who support those educators working with young children (0-3) in an effort to improve quality care and programming through grant-funded resources, training and coaching.