Day One Early Learning
A joyful start.
A pathway for all.
Every child deserves a strong start and every community deserves great educators to make it happen.
Our Teacher Apprenticeship Pathway (TAP), prepares community members to become early childhood educators in 11 weeks–then helps them build teaching careers or open their own childcare programs.
Future educators
Become a brain builder.
What if you could build a career helping children thrive AND get paid while you learn?
In 11 weeks, you can become an early childhood educator through our Teacher Apprenticeship Pathway, or TAP. Get paid while you train. Walk away with a clear pathway to real credentials.
DAY ONE early learning community
Building Communities from DAY ONE
Training tomorrow’s educators. Creating early learning solutions. Strengthening communities from within.
Policy & Advocacy
Early learning can’t wait
The childcare struggle is real.
But the solution is simpler than you think.
90%
of brain development happens before age 5 but most kids miss this window
$122B
lost annually to childcare chaos in wages and productivity
150K
early childhood jobs that should exist but don’t
The difference DAY ONE makes
From classrooms to careers, it’s already working.
500+
Children
of brain development happens before age 5 but most kids miss this window
100+
Educators
lost annually to childcare chaos in wages and productivity
Pre-K students
early childhood jobs that should exist but don’t
2
Communities
early childhood jobs that should exist but don’t
What TAP will give you
When you become an early childhood educator through TAP, you’re getting a steady, secure job in a field that desperately needs you. You walk away with access to credentials, a reliable paycheck, and a career path with real demand.
Children
of brain development happens before age 5 but most kids miss this window
Educators
lost annually to childcare chaos in wages and productivity
Pre-K students
early childhood jobs that should exist but don’t
Communities
early childhood jobs that should exist but don’t
What partnering with DAY ONE means for your organization
$122B
What the childcare crisis costs the U.S. economy annually—$78B in lost parent earnings, $23B in lost business productivity, $21B in taxpayer costs
$122B
What the childcare crisis costs the U.S. economy annually—$78B in lost parent earnings, $23B in lost business productivity, $21B in taxpayer costs
$122B
What the childcare crisis costs the U.S. economy annually—$78B in lost parent earnings, $23B in lost business productivity, $21B in taxpayer costs
$122B
What the childcare crisis costs the U.S. economy annually—$78B in lost parent earnings, $23B in lost business productivity, $21B in taxpayer costs
Cross-sector partnerships that work
The DAY ONE model is designed to plug into real systems and grow from each community’s strengths.
Hospitals & healthcare systems
The challenge
Staff working overnight and weekend shifts can’t find childcare. Turnover is costly.
The solution
Partner with DAY ONE to train educators and launch non-traditional hour childcare, keeping your workforce stable and families supported.
$122B
Hospitals & healthcare systems
The challenge
Staff working overnight and weekend shifts can’t find childcare. Turnover is costly.
The solution
Partner with DAY ONE to train educators and launch non-traditional hour childcare, keeping your workforce stable and families supported.
$122B
Hospitals & healthcare systems
The challenge
Staff working overnight and weekend shifts can’t find childcare. Turnover is costly.
The solution
Partner with DAY ONE to train educators and launch non-traditional hour childcare, keeping your workforce stable and families supported.
$122B
Hospitals & healthcare systems
The challenge
Staff working overnight and weekend shifts can’t find childcare. Turnover is costly.
The solution
Partner with DAY ONE to train educators and launch non-traditional hour childcare, keeping your workforce stable and families supported.
$122B
Hospitals & healthcare systems
The challenge
Staff working overnight and weekend shifts can’t find childcare. Turnover is costly.
The solution
Partner with DAY ONE to train educators and launch non-traditional hour childcare, keeping your workforce stable and families supported.
$122B
Hospitals & healthcare systems
The challenge
Staff working overnight and weekend shifts can’t find childcare. Turnover is costly.
The solution
Transform underutilized housing into licensed early learning centers operated by TAP graduates, revitalizing neighborhoods while expanding care.
$122B
Hospitals & healthcare systems
The challenge
Adults need pathways to family-sustaining careers. Early childhood has chronic shortages.
The solution
Partner with DAY ONE to train educators and launch non-traditional hour childcare, keeping your workforce stable and families supported. Partner with DAY ONE to train educators and launch non-traditional hour childcare, keeping your workforce stable and families supported.
TAP is how communities build early learning from the inside out.
The first five years are a once-in-a-lifetime window. DAY ONE helps communities act on that urgency by preparing the educators children need. We create:
Pathways into the field
TAP turns community members into early childhood educators. Graduates can open their own programs. TAP turns community members into early childhood educators. Graduates can open their own programs.
Pathways to stronger communities
Trusted early learning lets parents work. TAP creates stable local careers. Children start school ready to learn.
Pathways to learning
Every TAP graduate means more childcare seats for working families. DAY ONE—affiliated programs are where kids play, discover, and learn with joy.
Your Community’s Pathway Forward
Launch TAP
- Partner with us to recruit local participants
- Apprentices are prepared to enter the field in 11 weeks
- Graduates join local early learning centers or open their own through TAP to OWN
Expand access
- More early learning and care spaces become available
- Graduates fill gaps where quality early learning is needed most
- Your organization becomes known as a driver of early childhood solutions
Innovate together
- Convene local stakeholders—housing authorities, employers, government, funders
- Co-design models that fit your community’s unique needs
- Launch, learn, and scale together
The systems we’re working to change
From listening to leading
We started by listening.
We built something new.
Today & Tomorrow
A pathway to meaningful work. Right here in your community.
Build a career helping children thrive and get paid while you learn.
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- Where TAP graduates go: Open yodasdadur own licensed…
“DAY ONE was the first to say: you’re not a babysitter, you’re a brain builder. Now I mentor new TAP graduates and I’ve hired two onto my staff.
TAP graduate & Affiliate Daycare Provider
Behind every number is a story
Families, educators, and communities share what DAY ONE has meant in their lives.
Family voice
Educator voice
Partner voice
What’s happening at DAY ONE?
Stories, milestones, and moments from our classrooms and communities.
TAP graduates open new home-based programs
Family night brings parents and educators together
DAY ONE featured in national early learning report
Test
Pathways into the field
Hand in hand
Hand in Hand offers various ideas and suggestions on things young children and their family can explore together.
For early childhood
Parents
“This is our village"
Educators
TAP graduates open new home-based programs
Educators
The TAP Experience: firsthand accounts
Educators & providers
You know what works because you do it every day. That expertise shapes better policy.
Early childhood
Art material recipes
Hear from Julie.
For elementary school children
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Pathways into the field
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It’s already working—and it can work anywhere.
When we prepare educators and help them build careers close to home, children thrive, families breathe easier, and communities.
A career with a future.
DAY ONE created TAP because we believe every aspiring educator deserves training that prepares them for the classroom and a career pathway that actually leads somewhere.
No college degree required. No student loans. Just a clear path to work that matters and opportunities that grow with you.
Our vision for DAY ONE
DAY ONE brings together brain-building early learning with career-building opportunities for adults. Through our Teacher Apprenticeship Pathway (TAP), we provide training for community members to become exceptional early educators. They earn while they learn—and launch fulfilling careers in the neighborhoods they call home.
DAY ONE creates a locally powered engine to change communities forever.
Frequently asked questions
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A proven replicable model
Learn by doing. Grow with a cohort. Launch your future.
We don’t build roads a mile at a time and hope for the best. We build systems designed to carry traffic for decades.
DAY ONE works the same way. Each TAP graduate creates community assets that compound:
We don’t build roads a mile at a time and hope for the best. We build systems designed to carry traffic for decades.
DAY ONE works the same way. Each TAP graduate creates community assets that compound:
We don’t build roads a mile at a time and hope for the best. We build systems designed to carry traffic for decades.
DAY ONE works the same way. Each TAP graduate creates community assets that compound:
A proven replicable model
DAY ONE builds early learning the way infrastructure should be built: local, sustainable, and community-powered.
We’re on a mission to professionalize early learning, because you can’t build lasting systems without investing in the people who run them.
Our model brings three things together – on purpose, at the same time:
We don’t build roads a mile at a time and hope for the best. We build systems designed to carry traffic for decades.
DAY ONE works the same way. Each TAP graduate creates community assets that compound:
We don’t build roads a mile at a time and hope for the best. We build systems designed to carry traffic for decades.
DAY ONE works the same way. Each TAP graduate creates community assets that compound:
Volunteer opportunities
Annual summer refresh
Every summer, we transform our centers to welcome the new year. Join us for a day (or a week!) to help us get ready. Organize the library, paint classrooms, decorate spaces, tackle yard work, and more.
When: Mid/Late August
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When: Ongoing
Annual Community Events
Join us at local celebrations where we show up for our neighbors and build community connections.
Events we participate in:
When: Ongoing
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event opportunities
Prepare the next generation of educators
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Prepare the next generation of educators
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Prepare the next generation of educators
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Prepare the next generation of educators
event opportunities
Contact information
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