When I asked my thirteen year old granddaughter, Lilian, what she wanted for Christmas she said she would like to help needy children. She gave me this link which she learned through her school, Episcopal School of Jacksonville. Her angel heart makes me so proud. She has learned a valuable lesson that it is more blessed to give than to receive.
Head Start got it right. Giving ECS the Duval County contract would be dooming it to more failure. This company will be out of business within 5 years without major leadership changes, starting with the CEO, who rated her own company as 5 stars just a few months after obliterating the leadership team and taking it from 9 people to 3. It's a shame. Good talent still exists here, but it's not able to spread it's wings due to the blinders fixed to the C-Level folks at the place.
I have worked with ECS for over 23 years. Every day that I come into work is exciting and rewarding becuase we have continued the almost 50 year tradition of "excellence" in serving young children in Duval, Clay, Nassau, Baker, Bradford, Union, St. Johns and Putnma Counties. Check us out on the web or Facebook to learn more about our services in your area.
Review from Guidestar
ECS is a great program. They have plenty of resources and offer alot of staff coaching as well as professional development to directors. The program does require alot of work but it's worth it. They showed me a more organized way of operating my daycare center. From paperwork, to interaction with children to different ways of teaching children to learn through play. Just a great program.
We live and work in a very impoverished community. We have been affiliated with ECS for a number of years and have found them to be top-notch! They are always willing to go the extra mile and do whatever they can to provide services for our clients. Anytime we need their assistance (phone/email/letter,etc) we have found they are very quick in their response. I could go on but the bottom line is this, WE THINK ECS IS GREAT! What a wonderful coalition to be a part of!
I am the Director of a child care center in Baker County Florida called ABC Learning Center. Episcopal Children’s Services known as (ECS), has been a big help to our center. They provide a wonderful service to our under income clients. ECS will help our under income clients that qualify with subsidize affordable childcare. If I have any questions or concerns they have always provided me with a fast response. This is a wonderful program that helps parents or sometimes single parents be able to go to work and help provide for their family. ECS also offers help in the classrooms, this is a big help when you have a new beginner teacher. ECS has offered trainings, ideals, support coach, encouragement & has also provided materials for the classroom. I use 3 different agencies for under income families. ECS is by far my favorite, There is always someone on the other end of the phone willing to help me, no automated machine press this number or that number, It is a live friendly person that I can understand and they are willing to help. If you are on the phone a lot, dealing with 123 children, 14 employees, & parents that is what kind help you need not a hard time.
We are so glad to work with Episcopal Children's Services. Episcopal does a great job with supporting our center with trainings, communications, assesments, and funding. Episcopal makes it possible for children from all types of backgrounds to enroll in a great educational setting. This gives them the chance to thrive when they enter Kindergarden. Thank you Epicopal. -Cheyenne, Director (Treasure Harbor Preschool) St. Augustine, Florida.
I work as a Family Services Specialist in a satellite office and am told on a daily basis that without our School Readiness services, they would be unable to work or attend school due to the cost of childcare. Next to rent or a mortgage this is the next biggest expense that they have. ECS also does excellent things with the Head Start programs. These services ensure a positive start to a childs education and as we all know, edusation is a key to a bright future. We hear quite a few success stories and try to provide quality customer service while ensuring that people who need assistance are served quickly and efficiently and ensure that they leave our office with their dignity in tact. It is not easy for some to ask for help but we try to make it a positive experience.
ECS is always there for their clients. They put the needs of the children first and then the families. ECS is always open to suggestions and willing to help out the providers that provide care for the children in any way that they can. It is a joy to work with a professional organization that is able to keep up a friendly and warm relationship while meeting the needs of all the people they deal with.
Love the help, that we always receive. This company always put the children first in all decision. A joy to work with
ECS always puts the children and families it serves first. They are innovators and consistently raising the bar of excellence. They are highly professional in everything they do and yet maintain a warm and receiving environment for both their staff and their clients. They give careful thought to every decision they make. They understand all the unique needs of the diverse communitits they serve. All in all....they are "top drawer".
ECS is a wonderful company with great intentions of providing Northeast Florida's children with quality early childhood education. They are raising the bar for what Early Childhood Education should look like.
Episcopal Children's Services has provided to the Jacksonville Community an incredible gift to the children and their working parents. It has consistently gotten five stars for its work and organization over the years -- wonderful teachers, a step up for the inner city child and a love that permeates it all. We are so grateful to have such a wonderful organization in our community. It has meant the world to those who through not fault of there own, have been given hope.
I was honored to be a member of the governing board at ECS for several years. Dedication to excellence and devotion to the children they serve is the hallmark of the staff. As laws and priorities have changed and evolved in Florida over the years, the ECS team has never wavered from their mission of service. I give ECS the highest recommendation possible.
Over the years, I have served on the boards of many non-profits. I have a deep and honest perspective on all functions of ECS. They have proven themselves again and again to be an exceptional in so many ways. The very fact that politics is never played (or even tolerated) at any level within the organization sets it apart immediately and certainly one of the keys that drew me to them, in the first place. The transparency within ECS creates an inherent responsibility, at all levels, to client focus and a self-monitoring process of mutual success. I am proud and grateful to be associated with a group that truly puts the child's needs and the needs of the family ahead of any other responsibility. They are an amazing group, delivering amazing services to a very needy audience.
ECS manages childcare centers for early headstart, headstart and private pay in several counties in northeast Florida. Staff are well trained and dedicated. Research into best practices, and to monitor children's progress is on going. They strive to engage the whole family in preparing the child to learn to read.