Kennedy Krieger Institute will open an innovative early childhood learning center in Baltimore County, near northwest Baltimore City, this summer. The center will provide comprehensive, family-centered education for children ages 3 to 5 and will serve as a model for educators across the nation.
Kennedy Krieger’s Integrated Early Learning Center will provide full-day, year-round education for up to 40 children from Baltimore’s underserved communities. Students will learn in an inclusive, blended environment that encompasses the educational and therapeutic needs of typically developing children as well as children who are neurodivergent.
In addition to improving learning outcomes for its students, the model seeks to improve social, emotional, functional and behavioral outcomes and close learning gaps experienced by some groups of young children.
The Maryland State Department of Education awarded the Institute $7 million to open the center. Additionally, the Institute received $1.2 million through federal Community Project Funding, which will be used to pilot a model design for under-resourced children that incorporates promising approaches already in use by Kennedy Krieger’s current early childhood education programs.
