Secretary of Education Stephen Zrike chats with youngsters in the Boys & Girls Club Children's Center.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — State education officials stopped in Pittsfield and North Adams as a part of Monday's "413 Day" tour to highlight early education and early college opportunities. 

At the Boys and Girls Club of the Berkshires child care center in Pittsfield, Secretary of Education Stephen Zrike heard from community-based preschool educators about workforce needs and the impact of the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative. Some credited the program for creating an official connection between early education and public school. 

Zrike, only 11 days in his position, said having kids come through the elementary school doors with a powerful preschool or early childhood experience is "significant." Last year, as part of a multi-year initiative, the Pittsfield Public Schools were awarded $250,000 through the CPPI to expand access to preschool for 3-and 4-year-olds across the city.

"We know that early childhood educators are woefully underpaid in many places. We also know that the supports and training so that we can retain some of the quality people is something we've got to continue to work on to enhance the quality, but we're off to, I think, a good start," Zrike said. 

"And I come today to learn from another community and to better understand the infrastructure that you built here in Pittsfield." 

Interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips said what the district really wants is for students to come into kindergarten ready, and readiness goes beyond academic skills.  

"It's very much a social emotional readiness," she said. 

"It's ready to learn, which means knowing how to cut, knowing how to walk in line, knowing how to share, and I think those are the pieces through early education where it's important for us to partner so that when the handoff comes, we are ready. It's important for us to approach this as a continuum. Not just we are pre-K through 12. No, we are a community continuum, all of us focused on the support of our students." 

Mayor Peter Marchetti said part of this, to him, is creating a level playing field for all students to start in, "And if we can create that field at 3 years old, rather than third grade, we're miles ahead of it."