We were extremely honored to receive a very special and personal visit this spring from the MA Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) Commissioner, Tom Weber. EEC is the state licensing and regulations agency that oversees all Early Childhood Programs here in Massachusetts to ensure health, safety, and quality of curriculum content. Our own Aqua Room Teacher, Jennie Fitzkee, met the Commissioner last April, when she received an Early Childhood Education award from the Boston affiliate of NAEYC. She invited him to our school, and were delighted that he actually came!
It was such an exciting morning as the children warmly welcomed our guest with a beautifully inspired “Welcome” banner. Commissioner Weber was enthusiastically greeted by children as he made his way up and down the hallway to personally meet and speak with each classroom. How often do we have a “man wearing a suit” hanging around in classrooms? We were so inspired by the attentiveness, kind nature, and personal thoughtfulness that he shared with each child as he shook hands with them. The entire school then gathered together in the “Big Room” to share some special music that we had prepared for him, and we were impressed that he even sang along! To show our appreciation, we held a staff luncheon in his honor, and also gifted him with a bucket of beautiful pansies (to represent our “bucket filling” philosophy) and a Groton Community School sweatshirt for him to wear in style.
Like all children’s centers, Groton Community School is required to adhere
to stringent regulations at all times and participate in a relicensing study every two years. We are fortunate to have a strong working relationship with our school’s state licensor and communicate with her regularly for questions and concerns that arise throughout the year. It is exciting to now have a familiar relationship with the Commissioner, too, and we are so grateful to him for taking time from his very busy calendar to visit GCS!
