Marin residents with entry-level skills struggle to find jobs that pay enough to support living here. With vital support from the Marin Community Foundation and Kaiser Permanente, we’ve created a project that engages low-income Marin residents in a one-year workforce training program that gives them the credentials to build a satisfying career in the field of early childhood education.
Over the course of a year, participants complete 12 units of Early Childhood Education classes at College of Marin, take English language proficiency courses if needed, attend other skill-building trainings, get on-the-job training and real-time feedback from a model teacher during a classroom internship, and check in on progress at one-on-one and monthly cohort meetings.
Now in the second year of this pilot project, we’re proud to report that 100% of those who completed the program in the first year are now employed as early childhood educators.