Every Child Shines

We envision a future where all East Boston children enter kindergarten joyful, thriving, and ready to learn.

Every Child Shines is a community movement housed in and supported by East Boston Social Centers.

Mission:

Our mission is to support the wellbeing of children and families in East Boston to ensure that every child enters kindergarten ready to learn.

Strategy:

To accomplish this, we:

  • Collaborate with organizations across sectors to build a strong system that allows all children to enter kindergarten joyful, thriving, and ready to learn.

  • Connect families to East Boston Family Engagement Network's Parent Partners for Welcome Baby visits, Ages & Stages Questionnaires and individual support.

  • Prepare Parent Partners to serve as coaches who work to guide families with children under five with resources to support healthy child development, kindergarten readiness, and their long-term personal and professional goals.

Values:

  • Community: We convene and collaborate with East Boston families, service providers, and government systems to improve kindergarten readiness for all.

  • Equity: We prioritize parent voice and leadership in all of our work.

  • Accountability: We operate with transparency, care, and clarity, delivering regular updates to our community on our goals, findings, initiatives, and calls for support. 

A young girl holding up a piece of artwork she made. It is a read heart with lots of colorful stickers and decoration

Our Why

Inequities impact children early. We want to start earlier.

80% of brain growth happens in the first three years of life. The returns from investing in early childhood increase the earlier an intervention begins. We know that when caregivers have the knowledge and resources to support their children, children thrive.