On April 14, at 8:14 a.m., as our smiling infants, toddlers, and preschoolers were arriving to the Early Learning Center (ELC) for another wonderful day of exuberant exploration and joyful play, their teachers received a devastating email informing them that Hampshire College was closing, and with it, the ELC would be closed too. Despite being fully enrolled for the summer and the 2026-2027 school year and maintained by tuition-paying families, this remarkable early-childhood education center is facing a heartbreaking reality: after June 5th, the school must cease operations.
The morning they received news of the ELC’s imminent closure, these dedicated educators welcomed our children with the same care they have welcomed generations of children, all while processing that they would soon lose their salaries, health insurance, and tuition remission for their own children currently enrolled at Hampshire, without receiving any severance pay. Each of these educators brings up to 30+ years experience in the field; some have devoted over three decades to the ELC itself. Since the 1990s, the center has been inspired by the schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, and is widely recognized as an inspiring, child-centered, and innovative program — a unique community where children, families, teachers, and Hampshire students and faculty learn together. Their commitment to early childhood education is extraordinary, and they are showing up for our children every single day while they face the immense uncertainty of this unexpected unemployment.
We are organizing this fundraiser to support the immediate financial needs of ELC staff as they work to find new job opportunities. The funds we raise will be divided fairly among the staff in an effort to match the severance pay they would have received from the College. This financial buffer will help them face the sudden urgent costs of health insurance, medical bills, housing, and tuition.
The ELC community is actively working to envision possible pathways to revive the ELC in the future, and there is room for this fund to grow and evolve to support that effort if we meet our goals for supporting our teachers. As current parents of children at the ELC, we are calling out to the bountiful and widespread network of families, students, staff, and community members that have been touched by the ELC past and present to please give what you can today — and share with your wider networks. Let’s provide a bridge for these extraordinary educators as they navigate what comes next.
Former families, work study students, and anyone with a connection to the ELC are invited to come visit between now and June 5th.
We are — and always will be — all a family under one sky.