One leadership gift came from Kathy Jaunich (Wheelock’64), a former trustee who gave alongside her husband, Bob. Photo courtesy of Kathy Jaunich

Public Education

A Commitment to Early Childhood Education

Donors join to endow the Lucy Wheelock Fellowship Fund

“The research evidence about the importance of early childhood is abundantly clear,” says David Chard, who stepped down in June as dean of BU Wheelock College of Education & Human Development. “Supporting children in the first years of life pays dividends across the lifespan, and yet we still do not treat early childhood education with the level of respect and importance that it deserves.”

Now, a number of donors have joined together to demonstrate their commitment to early childhood education by endowing the Lucy Wheelock Fellowship Fund, which will provide tuition assistance to early childhood graduate students at Wheelock. As of June, the $2 million goal was within reach; gifts are still being accepted.

The fund honors Chard and early child development pioneer Lucy Wheelock, who, as an educator in the 19th and early-to-mid-20th centuries, founded the Wheelock Kindergarten Training School, which educated some of the first kindergarten teachers in the United States. That school became Wheelock College in 1941, and in 2018, Wheelock College merged with Boston University’s School of Education, becoming the first BU college named for a woman.

One leadership gift came from Kathy Jaunich (Wheelock’64), a former trustee who gave alongside her husband, Bob, partly in recognition of Chard’s shepherding of the merger. “We have tremendous belief in David Chard,” she says, “and we were so fortunate to have a great leader at the right time.”

Under Chard’s leadership, Wheelock’s early childhood–focused graduate programs have become more integrated with other programs at BU, in Boston, across the nation, and around the world. Today, the college is known for its multifaceted, cross-cultural approach to early child development. It has created many national and international academic partnerships and refocused its effort to be a strategic partner with the Boston Public Schools and local nonprofits.

Since 2018, Wheelock has raised more than $15 million for student scholarships and faculty support and today offers financial aid to 60 percent of graduate program applicants, with just over $5 million awarded annually.

But raising more funds is critical, Chard says: “It’s so important to bring the best and brightest people to this field. If you talk to many young people who are considering this pathway, they will say, ‘I’ve always wanted to work with young children, but I don’t see a way to do that that is going to allow me to make a living.’”

Those who come to Wheelock develop a profound understanding of the systems that may negatively impact young children and their families. “No work is more important to the future of our children, and therefore to the well-being of our society,” Chard says. “Our master’s students shouldn’t be struggling to make ends meet while at Wheelock. And they shouldn’t be asked to carry a heavy debt load in the early years of their careers.”

The Jaunichs agree. “Investing in good teachers is paramount,” Kathy says. “Most states require a master’s degree to get a credential, which is even more reason to support graduate aid and degrees.”

The fellowship fund received gifts from numerous friends and graduates of both Wheelock College and the former BU School of Education—a fact Chard is quick to celebrate.

“The graduates I meet from around the world who have backgrounds in these areas can give you detailed experiences of their time at what is now this combined institution, and how it changed their lives,” he says. “And these people did not hesitate to support the idea, because they understand, at their core, the importance of the work.”