Membership · Get Involved

Join NYCAEYC

Membership connects early childhood educators, administrators, and professionals to a citywide network. Members can join committees, take part in governance, and engage with the broader early childhood community in New York City.

Events · Calendar

Calendar of Events

A record of board meetings, workshops, conferences, and member events. Past gatherings have been hosted at venues including Bank Street College, International Preschools, and Pace University.

Accreditation

About Accreditation

Resources for programs pursuing accreditation, including articles on accredited programs and spotlights on accredited programs in New York City.

Policy · ECE News

Policy & ECE News

Updates on policy and advocacy related to early childhood education in New York City, including news that affects educators, programs, and families.

Get Involved

Volunteer & Governance

Members can volunteer for committees or serve on the Board of Directors. The association is led by Co-Presidents, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and a Governing Board representing affiliated programs.

Resources

Professional Resources

Tools and articles for early childhood education professionals, including professional development materials and related references for program staff.

Leadership

Board & Executive Committee

The Executive Committee and Governing Board include Co-Presidents, a Past President, a President Elect, a Vice President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer. Board members are affiliated with programs such as Columbia Greenhouse Nursery and Bank Street College of Education.

Early childhood education in New York City is shaped by a wide network of educators, caregivers, researchers, and families who recognize the formative power of the first years of life. The field brings together perspectives from classroom teachers, family child care providers, museum educators, and policy advocates, all working toward shared goals of equity, curiosity, and joy in learning. As a professional community, it values reflection, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Conferences and gatherings offer a way to honor that shared commitment while creating space for new voices and ideas. This broader context frames the importance of events that bring the community together around practice, research, and the wellbeing of young children.

A well designed early childhood conference can serve as a touchstone moment for an entire city's professional community. By gathering educators, program leaders, and advocates in a single setting, such an event creates rare opportunities for cross sector dialogue that rarely happens in the daily rhythm of programs and schools. Workshops allow participants to deepen specific skills, while general sessions can introduce new frameworks or challenge long held assumptions. Exhibitor halls and informal spaces encourage conversation between practitioners and organizations that support the field. When thoughtfully planned, a conference becomes more than a schedule of sessions. It reflects the values, priorities, and aspirations of the early childhood community it represents, signaling what the field considers worth attention and investment.

Expert speakers play a central role in anchoring a conference program, offering participants a chance to learn from voices they might not otherwise encounter in their own settings. Presentations can range from research summaries to storytelling, from policy overviews to reflective essays on classroom life. The diversity of perspectives helps attendees see familiar challenges from new angles, and can reenergize their sense of purpose. Pairing keynote talks with smaller interactive sessions allows ideas introduced on stage to be explored in conversation with colleagues. Over the course of a day or several days, these layered experiences often shift how participants think about their own work, prompting new questions and renewed commitment to the children, families, and communities they serve.

Workshops are often the most hands on part of any early childhood gathering, translating broad ideas into practical strategies participants can take back to their own programs. A well crafted workshop might invite teachers to examine a curriculum approach, explore a documentation technique, or experiment with a new way of supporting children's play. Because the early childhood field values experience as a primary teacher, workshops typically balance discussion with activity, reflection with making. Participants leave with concrete tools as well as a clearer sense of how those tools fit into their own philosophies. When workshops are responsive to the real conditions of urban programs, they become especially valuable, bridging the gap between visionary thinking and the everyday realities of working with young children.

Exhibitors and sponsors add another layer to the conference experience by connecting attendees with resources, books, materials, and organizations that support early childhood work. Tables, displays, and informal conversations in exhibit spaces offer a different kind of learning than sessions in meeting rooms. Educators can discover new publications, sample classroom materials, or learn about professional development pathways offered by local and national organizations. For smaller programs, this exposure can be especially meaningful, offering access to ideas and supports that might otherwise be out of reach. Exhibitors also benefit from direct contact with the practitioners who use their resources, creating a feedback loop that strengthens the field as a whole. The exchange is mutual, grounded in shared commitment to quality.

Pre conference receptions have a particular kind of value, offering a more relaxed setting for conversation before the formal program begins. These gatherings create space for reconnections among colleagues who may only see each other once a year, and they welcome newcomers into the community with warmth and ease. Over light refreshments, educators can trade stories from their programs, ask questions of more experienced peers, or simply enjoy a moment of recognition for work that is often quietly carried out. Receptions also signal the tone of the days ahead, suggesting that the conference values relationship as much as information. In a field built on responsiveness, attunement, and presence, that relational opening often sets the stage for meaningful learning.

Special pre conference screenings, such as documentary viewings, offer a shared cultural experience that can shape the conversations of the days that follow. Watching a film alongside colleagues creates a common reference point, a set of images and questions that participants carry into workshops and discussions. Documentaries about early childhood practice, pedagogy, or policy can illuminate dimensions of the field that are difficult to capture in slides or lectures, bringing the textures of classrooms and the voices of children, families, and educators directly into the room. When a screening is paired with a facilitated reflection or a brief talk, it can deepen its impact, inviting participants to consider how the stories on screen relate to their own contexts and commitments.

Reflection is a quiet but essential thread running through any strong professional gathering, including conferences focused on early childhood education. Between sessions, in hallways, over coffee, and during closing remarks, participants are invited to consider what they are taking home, what questions remain, and what next steps feel possible. Reflection helps transform a day of input into a season of practice, allowing new ideas to settle and take shape within each educator's own setting. When conferences intentionally build in time for this kind of inner work, whether through journaling prompts, small group conversations, or simply generous breaks, they honor the depth and complexity of teaching young children. The work of the conference, in this sense, continues long after the closing session.

Ultimately, a citywide early childhood conference is an act of community building, a visible expression of care for the educators, children, and families at the heart of the field. By gathering across roles, sectors, and neighborhoods, such an event affirms that the work of early childhood education is shared, not solitary. It creates moments of recognition, inspiration, and renewal that ripple outward into classrooms, family child care homes, and community programs across the city. For new teachers, conferences can introduce a wider professional world. For seasoned educators, they can offer fresh perspectives and a sense of belonging. In every case, the gathering reminds participants that their work matters and that they are part of a larger story.

Contact

Contact Information

Reach the association by email at office@nycaeyc.org. Historical addresses include c/o Community Resource Exchange, 42 Broadway, 20th floor, New York, NY 10004, and 66 Leroy Street, New York, NY 10014. Historical phone numbers include 212-894-3382 and 212-807-0144.