Press Release: MSDE Unveils Redesigned Early Childhood Website

Provides Easy Access to Important Information

For Immediate Release                                        Contact: William Reinhard, 410.767.0486

Baltimore, MD (February 1, 2016)

The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) has launched the redesigned Early Childhood Division website. The new website provides easy access to the most frequently sought information and valuable resources for the early childhood community in Maryland.

“This website creates a virtual hub to early childhood projects and places where parents, providers, educators and the public can get the information they need to make good decisions for young learners,” said Dr. Jack R. Smith, Maryland's Interim State Superintendent of Schools. “It contains the useful information that’s always been on our site – from child care licensing forms to information about school readiness, provider training, funding opportunities or grants and more – but in a way that is far more user-friendly and accessible.”

The website was redesigned to better engage the early childhood community, foster communication, and address the needs of stakeholders interested in locating information quickly on the site. The early childhood website integrates with the MSDE website, offering a unified web presence and providing easy access to important early childhood information at the local and state level.

Visitors to the website will notice a marked difference in the layout.  Easy navigation to family, provider and educator sections is available through the “Icon” functionality. Enhancements include language translation, easy-to-find local contact information, a user-friendly upcoming-events feature, and access to child care and early education information. A new feature is the “Resource Library,” which provides a centralized location for files, reports, and forms, and pulls together all the relevant information and documents in a site search.

The Division of Early Childhood Development at the Maryland State Department of Education is responsible for early care and education serving children, birth to kindergarten. The main mission of the Division is to improve early education in Maryland so that young children are well prepared for school and life success. The Division is composed of the Office of Child Care (Licensing, Subsidy, Credentialing and Maryland EXCELS), the Early Learning Branch, and the Collaboration and Program Improvement Branch.

Visit the Maryland State Department of Education website at www.marylandpublicschools.org. The Division of Early Childhood Development website may also be accessed by visiting http://earlychildhood.marylandpublicschools.org/.

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