Tag Archives: Children’s Community Development Center

Unsung Hero #385

Posted on June 4, 2025 | 4 comments

Samantha Owades has made a great nomination for this week’s Unsung Hero. Alex Kogstad writes:

She was always kind to children.

Those words may seem simple, but they say everything about Eileen Ward.

She retires this month, after 44 years (!) as director of the Children’s Community Development Center.

Over nearly half a century, Eileen’s leadership, compassion, and deep commitment to the kids and families in our community have left a lasting impact. And it is one that will be felt for generations.

Eileen first joined CCDC in 1981, bringing a passion for early childhood education and a dedication to making a difference in young lives.

After several years as a teacher, Eileen was uniquely qualified to become the center’s director.

Eileen Ward

But what truly set her apart was her heart. It’s clear to anyone who’s worked with her that Eileen has always seen each child as an individual with endless potential. And she did everything she could to help them grow and succeed.

Nothing shows the true impact of her work more than the many CCDC alumni who have come back as parents, enrolling their own children in the very same program that shaped their early years.

These alumni share stories about their own time at CCDC — and Eileen, with her incredible memory, always has a special story or memory to share about each of them.

Her connection to the children she’s worked with has always been personal, and that’s why so many families feel like CCDC is truly part of their family.

Throughout her career, Eileen also played a key role in shaping early childhood education on a larger scale. She served on local and regional advisory councils, and worked with public and private organizations to improve the lives of children and families.

She was a member of the Advisory Board for Fairfield University’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development. She was appointed to the Connecticut Early Childhood Education Cabinet in 2010, serving until 2021.

In 2016 Eileen received the Elizabeth Roberts Award from the United Way, which recognized her as “an invaluable asset” in the field of early childhood education.

Eileen Ward, engaging with a child …

Her expertise has shaped policies and helped drive positive change for children throughout Connecticut. As the United Way put it, “A conversation about what is needed to help kids succeed is not complete without the input of Eileen.”

Eileen’s retirement marks the end of an era — not just for CCDC, but for the hundreds of families whose lives have been touched by her wisdom, kindness and tireless dedication. While her presence at  CCDC will certainly be missed, the legacy she’s built will continue to inspire and guide us all.

… encouraging curiosity …

Eileen, thank you for all the love, care and energy you’ve poured into this community over the years. You’ve shaped so many lives in ways that words can’t fully capture.

Enjoy your next chapter. It’s well-deserved, and we know you’ll bring to it the same warmth and care to everything you do.

The Eileen Ward Dedication Fund has been established to honor Eileen’s 44 years of service to our community. 

(“06880” is proud to honor Unsung Heroes — and tell many other tales of town too. Please click here to support your hyper-local blog.)

… and shaping lives.

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Unsung Heroes #141

Posted on April 8, 2020 | 14 comments

As “home schooling” parents all across the country have found out these past few weeks, teachers are heroes. Suddenly, everyone who hasn’t been inside a classroom for years realizes how many moving parts make up just one class. And how many classes make up just one day.

But it’s one thing to teach English or physics to teenagers, or even reading or math to elementary schoolers.

What about kids who are much younger — who need constant, immediate attention that childcare providers have offered so amazingly for so long?

Alert — and hugely grateful — “06880” reader Keri Stedman admires Eileen Ward. For 39 years, she’s served as director of  the Children’s Community Development Center, on Hilllspoint Road.

“There’s no one I’d rather see at the helm during this crisis,” Keri says.

Eileen Ward

Though the school has closed, Eileen encourages teachers of all age levels to find ways to stay connected. There are emails, texts, Facebook groups, livestreams and Zoom calls (“yes, even for my 2-year-old’s class!”).

The music teacher has weekly online sessions. The art teacher shares creative ideas for the kids. The phys. ed. coach posts workouts.

“It was all put together so quickly,” Keri says. “And it has been so incredibly impressive and useful.”

“As a mom juggling homeschool for 1st and 2nd graders, plus my toddler, CCDC’s support has been invaluable. Eileen and her staff truly are my heroes.”

In fact, just minutes before writing this, one of the teachers FaceTimed Keri to make sure she was doing okay (and to see how all her children were doing).

Noelle, talking to Keri’s 2-year-old.

“Noelle talked to my 2-year-old as the little one ran all over the house with the phone,” Keri reports. “She offered to read to my elementary school girls, and engage them in any way she could.

“She even offered to put together work packets for them. Then she sent me art ideas for outside projects, like puff paint for the driveway.

“We are so lucky to have this center in Westport, and Eileen’s leadership. She truly leads by example. She has kept everyone connected to CCDC steady, calm and positive.”

In fact, Keri says, “I believe Eileen is at the school today, working.”

Thanks, Eileen — and your entire staff — for your care, concern and compassion for all your kids (and their families). Keri is right: You are our Unsung Heroes!

(Do you know an Unsung Hero? Email dwoog@optonline.net)

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COVID-19 Roundup: Daffodils; Pink Moon; Earthplace; Easter Egg Tree; Augmented Reality; More

Posted on April 7, 2020 | 11 comments

Thanks to the wonderful, multi-talented Miggs Burroughs for the new “06880” logo above. It will grace every Roundup from here until there’s no more COVID news to report. Fingers crossed …

Speaking of masks, here’s what the well-dressed blogger should wear. Apparently I can now look like this even at the bank.

Eileen Ward — director of the Children’s Community Development Center — writes:

“A long long time ago, as children would say (but really only last fall), we planted 1,000 daffodil bulbs in the beds along Hillspoint Road, and our entrance in back.

“Our volunteers — along with hundreds of other people Westporters — decided to ‘paint the town yellow’ in memory of people we love, and to brighten our passings all over town.

“Now, in the most bittersweet of ways, they are blooming en masse. As I come and go, to and from an empty CCDC, I remember the families and children who helped make this beautiful scene possible — and I hope and hope some more.”

The project was conceived by Debra Kandrak. Other daffodil gardens can be seen by the Ruth Steinkraus Cohen Bridge downtown, the Sherwood Island Connector, Beachside Avenue, and Project Return.

Daffodils around town.

Rindy Higgins writes: “Calling all Westporters to go outside tonight at 8 p.m. and howl at the pink moon! If the Italians can sing from their balconies to connect during social distancing, we can howl to the moon as a way to reconnect with the human pack.

“Even if it’s cloudy, there’s still the biggest and brightest supermoon of 2020 in the sky. So let’s connect to nature and each other by howling tonight at 8!”

Lisa Power provides this update on the Norwalk Hospital meal train:

The goal is to get daily meals to every unit at Norwalk Hospital (20 people each), delivered by a restaurant. It’s a win-win: feeding hard-working medical personnel, while supporting local businesses.

Many restaurants are even providing discounts for donors. Click here for a list of participating restaurants (scroll down to “General Instructions,” and to donate. Restaurants interested in being listed should email lapower2014@gmail.com.

A special shout out to Food for the Front Line who have been amazing and feeding all units at Norwalk Hosptial on Mondays. I’m hoping this Meal Train will help fill the gap on those other days.

Earthplace now has its own YouTube channel. Features include animal videos, activities to do at home, and story time. Click here to see.

The coronavirus is taking a toll even on Stew Leonard’s. Departments are shutting early — the butchers now leave at 5 p.m. weekdays — and the entire store will be closed this Easter. That’s a first in the store’s history.

Easter services may be canceled, but one tradition lives on: Jalna Jaeger’s Easter Egg tree!

For the 13th year, the 1971 Staples High School graduate has decorated a large tree on her 3 East Avenue property in Norwalk (just down the hill from Stew Leonard’s) with hundreds of eggs.

Kids (of all ages) enjoy it. “We all need something cheerful these days,” Jalna says. She provides it!

Here’s a novel way to amuse yourself (and others), during the pandemic.

Westporter Steven Kranz is a founder of Strax Networks. The new company just launched “StraxAR.” It’s “augmented reality” — and all you need is a smartphone.

Take a video. Then digitally “stick it” to any item: a logo, a painting, a stop sign…

Take a look at this video:

Strax is offering any “06880” reader the chance to submit a video (45 seconds or less). It could be a special recipe, a do-it-yourself project, even a singing dog. They’ll “stick it” to the target of your choice. Your content will be available worldwide, to anyone who “Straxes” that target.

Send your video to support@straxnetworks.com. Their crew will turn it into an augmented reality experience. And — completing the circle — “06880” will feature some submissions here. (The Strax app is available through the App Store and Google Play.)

PS: If you’d like, your augmented reality experience can lead to the home page of a charity of your choice.

And finally, this one might be a springtime cliché. But — as Jalna says above — “we all need something cheerful these days.” We can always count on the Beatles for that.

 

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Posted in Children, Environment, Local business, Organizations

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Mitch & Lisa 4Ever

Posted on April 17, 2017 | 20 comments

For decades, an odd-shaped building on Hillspoint Road has been home to early childhood programs.

It’s called the Parent Child Center. But back in the day, it was Hillspoint Elementary School.

The kids were bigger than the ones there now. They could write cursive.

And — because Hillspoint went all the way to 6th grade — there were some budding romances.

Which is why one day — back in the 1960s or ’70s — Mitch F. and Lisa R. grabbed a pencil, snuck into an art room closet, and scrawled their love on a metal plate.

It’s stood there — untouched and unnoticed — all these years.

Until — the other day — Children’s Community Development Center director Eileen Ward found it.

“06880” readers are intrepid. You’ve got long memories.

So, Eileen and I want to know:

  • Who were Mitch F. and Lisa R.?
  • And did their love really endure 4ever?

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Posted in Children, Education, Looking back, Organizations

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30-Year-Old Child Care

Posted on April 18, 2011 | 4 comments

In 1979 a group of Westport teachers and administrators saw the need for a quality daycare center.  They envisioned plenty of parent participation — an “extended family” offering enrichment and support to infants and toddlers.

The Children’s Community Daycare Center opened with 5 kids and 2 teachers, in a room at Green’s Farms Elementary School.

The next year it moved to the recently vacated Hillspoint Elementary.  Three decades later (“Daycare” having morphed into “Development”) it’s still there — with 63 youngsters, 16 teachers, and 5 programs.

Including Eileen Ward.

Eileen Ward

Hired as a head teacher in 1981, she was named director 5 years later. Originally younger — now older — than the parents who play an important role in the cooperative, she’s loved by everyone at CCDC:  tots, moms and dads, and the staff.

In 2009 Eileen received a United Way award.  It said:  “A conversation about what is needed to help kids succeed is not complete without Eileen’s input.”

This month, CCDC’s annal fundraiser celebrated her 30th anniversary.  Over 100 parents, teachers and alumni honored Eileen’s work in the tight-knit school community — and at the state and regional levels.

Eileen prefers to talk not about herself, but about CCDC’s spirit.

“The founders knew what was important at all levels,” she says.  “They had their hearts and minds in the right place.”

From the beginning, Eileen notes, the emphasis was on the social and emotional components of learning; on involvement, collaborative decision-making, and “respectful relationships on behalf of children.”

That extends to the staff.  “We all continue to grow professionally,” she says.  “There’s always room for personal education.”

CCDC kids don’t go home with “worksheets or perfectly put-together pumpkins,” she says.  Nor do parents “just drop off their kids.”

Like most 30-somethings, CCDC is very much in touch with technology.  Each classroom has a web page.  Every day parents read about activities done, songs sung and books read that day.

As a result, “when they pick their kids up, they really feel connected.  They’ve already got some conversation starters.”

The preschool 4 room Skypes with a friend on vacation.

The 4’s room has its own email address.  Parents on business trips send photos and video clips — and even Skype, on a donated smartboard.

The whole class gathers round.  “Kids ask everything from ‘What floor are you on?’ to ‘What’s that in the background?'”

A recent innovation — the “Wonderful World” language program — helps older kids chat a bit in Spanish.

But some things never change.  An early graduate recently returned for a visit.  “He said, ‘It feels exactly the same,'” Eileen reports proudly.  “We’ve expanded and grown, but the environment hasn’t changed.”

As it always has, the staff encourages independence and self-esteem.  They support social skills and emotional intelligence, while encouraging the joy of life.

Asked again about her own contributions, Eileen deflects the conversation to people like John Chacho.  A retired physical education instructor, he’s “magical,” Eileen says.

“He’s an amazing person.  He’s exactly who you want to be around your kids.”

In her own way, Eileen Ward is amazing too.

“This is a great life,” she says.  “I laugh every day.  After 30 years, I’m still having fun.

“We all are.”

Sharon Daly, with 3 babies in the infant room.

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