Early Years Registers First Statewide Early Childhood Educator Apprenticeship in North Carolina
North Carolina—Nov 20, 2024—Early Years (formerly known as Child Care Services Association) registered the first statewide Early Childhood Educator (ECE) Apprenticeship Program in North Carolina on October 31, 2024. The program, which is registered through ApprenticeshipNC, the State Apprenticeship Agency housed under the North Carolina Community College System, will provide an accessible training pathway to thousands of ECE providers and potential educators across the state. Apprentices who participate in Early Years’ Registered Apprenticeship will receive paid on-the-job learning under a mentor, supplemental education, and nationally recognized credentials.
“The apprenticeship program has the power to transform the field for the ECE workforce, not only improving outcomes for kids but also achieving equity in early childhood education. We believe that this work is a testament to the power of apprenticeships in driving systems change.”—Dr. Kristi Snuggs, President, Early Years
As a state and national leader and advocate in early care and education, Early Years works to ensure accessible, affordable, high-quality care for all children and families. In 2021, the organization became an intermediary for ECE Registered Apprenticeships on the national scale, allowing it to facilitate the creation of ECE talent pipelines across the United States. The registration of Early Years’s ECE Apprenticeship Program in North Carolina is the result of years of planning and discussion between Early Years, ApprenticeshipNC, and Building Bright Futures—an initiative designed to support and scale pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeships in early childhood education throughout North Carolina, on the best ways to assist.
Edith Locke, Senior Vice President of Professional Development Initiatives at Early Years, said, “The collaborative partnership between Building Bright Futures, ApprenticeshipNC and Early Years is providing a unique opportunity that enables the promotion and implementation of the Early Years National ECE Apprenticeship Model across North Carolina. Early Years’s statewide engagement provides a continuum for the organization’s long-standing workforce development efforts to positively impact the education, compensation and retention of the early education workforce in our state!”
Charles Milling, apprenticeship consultant at ApprenticeshipNC, believes a statewide ECE Apprenticeship Program through Early Years is a logical step that will benefit ECE providers across the state. “We could work with centers as they come and set up individual registered apprenticeship programs. However, most centers are already connected with Early Years through the TEACH Scholarship and other supportive services. Having Early Years be the Apprenticeship Program sponsor just makes sense. They handle the paperwork and complexities of being a program sponsor, and their employer partners focus on the apprentices’ education.”
Early Years already has an employer partner signed on the benefit from the talent pipeline the Registered Apprenticeship Program will produce. More employer partners are expected to sign on in the coming days.
For more information on Early Years’ Registered Apprenticeship Program, contact Deidre McMahon, Workforce Initiatives Senior Manager, at deidrem@earlyyearsnc.org.
About Early Years: Early Years improves the quality of child care in North Carolina for all children by helping families find child care and offering informational events for families, professional development opportunities and programs for providers and comprehensive child care research for policymakers.
About Building Bright Futures:Building BrightFuturesis an initiative designed to support and scale pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeships in early childhood education throughout North Carolina. BBF offers technical assistance, financial support, and resources to pre-apprentices and apprentices, child care centers, school districts, community colleges, and other partners that are part of a registered apprenticeship program through ApprenticeshipNC.
About ApprenticeshipNC: Recognized by the Office of Apprenticeship to act on behalf of the U.S. Department of Labor, ApprenticeshipNC is the State Apprenticeship Agency authorized to register apprenticeship programs tailored to meet employers’ needs— providing structured on-the-job learning, supplemental education, and a progressive wage scale.
