2023 has been a year of great progress and serious challenges for early learning in our State. In response to both, the Samuel N. & Mary Castle Foundation demonstrated its ongoing commitment “to improving the lives of Hawaii’s children and families by improving early education.” It encouraged and celebrated the successes of the expansion of quality public pre-K through the Ready Keiki initiative led by Lt. Governor Luke while supporting the importance of sustaining private sector providers, knowing that a mixed-delivery system offers choice along with quality options for families. And in response to the Lahaina fire catastrophe, the Foundation’s nimbleness allowed it to respond to this urgent need for relief funding in support of the Hawaii Community Foundation Maui Strong in short order.
During this past year, a total of $2.3 million in charitable funding was distributed. Grants were specifically designed to meet family needs, build workforce capacity and address professional development needs in support of quality experiences for young children; $100,000 of this total was dedicated to Maui fire relief. These funding priorities align with the philosophical belief of Mary Tenney Castle, the founder of the Foundation, that quality early education and broadening access, designed to improve the lives of Hawaii’s young children, serve to create a more equitable Hawaii where children experience learning that leads them to become active, effective participants in our democracy.
While expansion of pre-K opportunities opens opportunities for children and families, workforce capacity remains a central need. Tuition support of students enrolled at the University of Hawaii and Chaminade University remain key features of the Foundation’s efforts to support workforce development to help address this need. In addition, the Foundation funding support for a stipend program at UH to help those already in the field to pursue degrees and certification inspired the Legislature to pass a bill this past year for public funding of this stipend program. The Foundation has also partnered with public and private sector organizations to support high school recruitment in an effort to develop a pipeline to address workforce needs.
Quality instruction is valued by the Foundation’s trustees and to that end, we support professional development programs that improve teaching and learning. Partnership with the Erikson Foundation of Chicago has led to the recent “graduation” of the 8th cohort in early math instruction and this past fall the launch another cohort addressing social-emotional learning, an area of great need given Pandemic outcomes. A partnership with the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools that supports its Schools of the Future Conference has developed an early learning track that invites teachers to “hands-on” sessions which enhance their classroom instruction. This year, a dinner meeting for private providers and directors was sponsored by the Foundation as part of the Conference. It focused on dealing with the new realities of the early learning landscape in Hawaii, given the expansion of public pre-K along with the challenges of recruitment and retention of faculty. Over 40 attendees heard the Director of NIER share about lessons learned from other states along with a local panel of experts and engaged in conversations about how to plan for the future and possible collective action.
The Foundation continued its tuition grant program to schools seeking to assist low-income families and assure affordability. These grants, while not large, often made the difference between a family’s ability to enroll a child in a program, or the need to forego this early learning opportunity to set the child on a path for life success at a most critical stage of development. 2023 was the second year of a pilot effort focused on the field of infant-toddler services, specifically to support outstanding non-profits providing services to low-income families seeking to make a positive difference in the lives of children prenatal to 36 months. End-of-year reports from participants in year one indicate the flexibility of the use of funds has particularly benefited this segment of the early childhood community that receives limited focus.
Key to all of the work completed by the Trustees is the leadership and collaboration, both here and on the mainland, of the Foundation’s Executive Director, Mr. Al Castle. His vigilance and “ear-to-the-ground” sensitivity to our community needs is what allowed the Foundation to join the Maui Strong effort so readily. In addition, Mr. Castle continues to serve as a director of the Early Childhood Education Funders Collaborative and has been instrumental in bringing Hawaii’s experience of culture-based early childhood education to the attention of the national organization as it continues its interest in issues of equity related to early childhood education among indigenous people.
Our Foundation’s work is only successful as we form partnerships across both the private and public sector. The national Early Childhood Education Funders Collaborative, the local Keiki Funders Network, KCAA CEED Center, the Executive Office on Early Learning, Chaminade University and the University of Hawaii, Kamehameha Schools and Hawaii Community Foundation among others remain key associations for which we are most grateful. And, I share our appreciation for those who daily deliver quality experiences to young children and their families; it is those relationships that make the most difference in a child’s life and future success. Mahalo to all of our partners.
With aloha and gratitude,
Robert G. Peters, EdD
Samuel N. & Mary Castle Foundation Board President
January, 2024