….a seed was planted. This little seed came from the mind and heart of Risha McLellan and was nurtured in the rich soil of the Dekko Foundation.

The Dekko Foundation recognizes that the groundwork for who we become happens in the early years of our lives. Therefore they decided to invest in the development and early experiences of children.

Most of their investments were in childcare centers. They invested in teachers earning their CDAs. They invested in directors having a network of support as they learned about HR, finance, governance, and other leadership components. The foundation offered the Business of Childcare, where they paired Group Dekko managers with childcare centers to work on individualized business plans for centers. They also invested in an idea that would help parents of young children know how to secure quality childcare. That idea turned into Paths to Quality and was adopted by the State of Indiana as the state’s quality rating system.

With all of these investments the Dekko Foundation made in early childhood, they still were not seeing children’s learning and needs being met even though these childcare centers had the right signs out front and high-quality stickers on the door.

And so, the Dekko Foundation needed a way to define what high quality should look like in a classroom. In 2007 they developed 7 Simple Ideas to Make Your Classroom bloom! This defined high-quality as an expression of child development in childcare programs. To implement these ideas in schools they needed a human resource. For this, they brought in Risha McLellan.

Risha designed an emergent innovative in-service methodology that supports teachers and administration in thinking about how to incorporate developmental science into schools and classrooms. Thus the seed began to sprout!

After years of investment and cultivating ideas, the foundation feels they are seeing the changes they wish to see for children. More importantly, teachers, parents, and children are experiencing rich environments for learning and growth.