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CHILDREN’S MUSEUM OF MANHATTAN AND ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN’S SERVICES TO HOLD RIBBON CUTTING FOR NEW LEARNING HUB AT ACS’S CENTRAL OFFICE

Learning Hub Installation is the 14th by Children’s Museum at

Community Sites across the City

New York, NY – March 1, 2016 – The Children’s Museum of Manhattan, in partnership with the City’s Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), today announced it has replicated its successful early childhood health and literacy learning hub model inside the ACS Division of Early Care and Education (ECE) offices on the 7th floor of 66 John Street in Lower Manhattan. The Children’s Museum and ACS will unveil the learning hub, which will be open to visitors during ACS’ regular business hours, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony today.

This collaboration brings hands-on exhibit components and colorful wall graphics to the Division of ECE to interest and engage both parents and children in health and literacy information. To date, the museum has installed 14 learning hubs in underserved communities in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan: eight in Head Start daycare centers, five in homeless shelters, and one with ACS.

The Children’s Museum, with a New York Community Trust grant of $87,000 and a $10,000 grant from Chaparral Foundation, will also conduct professional development training for 150 ACS home-based care providers and offer two free family events at the museum.

“Through this collaboration with the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, we will be able to use this installation to engage our families when they come to our Early Care and Education (ECE) Office, “ said ACS Commissioner Gladys Carrión. “I am proud of this partnership and also of the professional development training for our staff that will ultimately enhance the services we provide for our families.”

“Each learning hub is designed to contribute to a sustainable citywide impact on the long term health and success of New York City’s children,” said Andrew Ackerman, Executive Director of the Children’s Museum. “Partnering with ACS, a vital city agency, on this installation and arts-based professional development training will help us reach both families and professionals with important health and literacy information.”

About the Children’s Museum of Manhattan The Children’s Museum of Manhattan – a citywide resource for children, families and educators – works to ensure children flourish at home, at school and in the community. Based on West 83rd Street, the Museum creates hands-on learning environments, programs, and curricula built on evidence-based early research and the museum sciences. In addition to its commitment to delight and educate visitors, the Museum offers resources and strategies for parents, caregivers and educators to help children become lifelong learners. Thousands more New Yorkers also benefit from the Museum’s offerings through its outreach programs at schools, Head Start centers, shelters, libraries and hospitals. www.cmom.org

As the city’s key cultural institution committed to the well-being of NYC families, the Children’s Museum has partnered with many city agencies to provide shared resources that connect home, school and community. Partnerships include: the Administration of Children’s Services to provide professional development training for caregivers; the Department of Education to engage parents and children in school readiness; the Department of Health to create parent engagement training model for teachers; and the Department of Homeless Services to deliver health and literacy programs for adults and children.

Through its cutting-edge collaborations with academic institutions such as New York University, Barnard College and Johns Hopkins University, its partnerships with local and national government agencies including the NYC Administration for Children’s Services, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Endowment for Humanities and the support of forward-looking funders including the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, the Institute for Museum and Library Services and W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Children’s Museum is a trusted partner of local and national cultural, academic, arts, governmental and civil society organizations committed to the welfare and advancement of children and families.

About NYC’s Administration for Children’s Services Division of Early Care and Education

The Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) Division of Early Care and Education (ECE) currently provides publicly funded services to 110,000 children through its contracted care and voucher system. Currently, the ECE contracted care system, named EarlyLearn, partners with 151 center-based early childhood education providers and 31 Family Child Care Networks to offer 38,800 center and home-based seats. In the contracted care system, 29,294 children ages six weeks to five years old are served in center-based settings and 9,546 children primarily ages three and under are served in home-based settings. http://www1.nyc.gov/site/acs/early-care/find-child-care.page

About The New York Community Trust

Since 1924, The New York Community Trust has been the home of charitable New Yorkers who share a passion for the City and its suburbs – and who are committed to improving them. The Trust supports effective nonprofits that help make the City a vital and secure place to live, learn, work, and play, while building permanent resources for the future. The New York Community Trust ended 2015 with assets of nearly $2.5 billion in more than 2,000 charitable funds, and made grants totaling $165 million. The Trust welcomes new donors. Information at www.nycommunitytrust.org.