Young Children & Families
The Early Learning Center and Tied Together initiatives at Martha O'Bryan Center serve young children, birth to pre-k.
Our Early Learning Center serves approximately 78 children between 6 weeks and 4 years old in six classrooms, which includes three Metro Pre-K Classrooms. More than just a place for children to be while their parents work, ELC exists as a proactive learning environment. We build self-esteem in our children and a safe and nurturing place where they can grow, learn, and begin a cycle of success designed to last a lifetime. The ELC is consistently awarded three-star ratings by the State of Tennessee and has maintained accreditation through the National Association for the Education of Young Children since 1991. We are also one of only three pre-K centers in the city certified as Metro Pre-K Classrooms. As evidence of the need and demand for our Center, we constantly maintain a waiting list. Contact Director Ila McDermott for enrollment inquiries at (615) 254-1791.The Early Learning Center is now enrolling for Metro Pre-K!
Our Tied Together parenting initiative gives at-risk parents from the Cayce Homes and surrounding east Nashville the education, resources, and modeling they need to raise healthy families. The program, which teaches positive parenting skills and supports good health outcomes among mothers, works to reduce infant mortality. Tied Together helps parents learn how to become their children's best teachers through gaining an understanding of child development. The nine-week curriculum is divided into topics that include Forming a Community of Learners, Immunizations, Brain Development, Health and Nutrition, and Safety. Parents receive essential educational, medical, safety, and nutritional items to take home after each session, to implement best practices learned in class.
Tied Together began in March of 2008 as a result of the Center's community outreach to clients and community members who provided feedback about the lack of positive parenting and hands-on supervision of young children in our neighborhood. We partnered with Vanderbilt University on evaluation and the program has been enthusiastically received by participants, staff, and area funding sources. Among these is the Governor’s Office of Children’s Care Coordination from whom we received a significant investment of $311,00 for 2009-10. The governor’s support enabled the addition of “Healthy Women’s Night Out” curriculum to the program to support women’s health as a means to improve birth outcomes in our neighborhood.
To effect positive change in our community, we know it is essential to start early in life as well bring the family and child together. As director Sharon Browne puts it, “the little ones are our future. If we don’t get it right now, we will be building more prisons. It’s not about rehabilitation. It’s about prevention.”
