Find Your Inner Child At The Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center

For over 50 years, the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center has provided the east end affordable full-day childcare and high-quality early education programs for children 18 months to 4 years old—inspiring us all to find the child within. We sat down with executive director Tim Frazier for an inside look at the organization.

What inspired you to get involved in the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center?

I’ve been involved in education all of my working life, and over the years it has become so evident to me that it’s the first five years that matter the most. That’s our focus here. The Eleanor Whitmore Center helps children ages 18 months to 4 years old be successful by providing the best possible start to their social, emotional, cognitive and physical growth. And as a nonprofit, we support children and families across the economic spectrum.

What drives your passion?

Everyone at the center is passionate about early childhood education, and we’re also passionate about supporting working families with affordable, high-quality care. For example, we run a food pantry and a free children’s clothing swap. We provide programs and workshops to help parents support learning at home.

The center provides comprehensive, research-based social-emotional curriculum that highlights every child’s innate abilities and interests, through three carefully curated programs: Toddler, 3-K and Pre-K.

Give us an inside look at the organization. On a day-to-day basis, what can we find the staff working on?

We are open five days a week, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and our staff is incredible. Every day you’ll find them guiding activities that help 100 kids under the age of 5 develop habits and traits that will make them successful learners. From the outside, it might look like fun and games—and it is! But it is all a part of helping them learn critical skills like teamwork and sharing, nurturing traits like kindness and curiosity, and helping them communicate and find their ‘voice.’ You’ll hear kids counting, singing and running around on the playground. You’ll find our staff reading aloud; serving hot, healthy meals and snacks; and making sure our kids feel safe and secure. And sometimes you’ll hear silence, because naptime is a skill we teach here too! Kids need to learn how to rest and renew.

How do you hope to bring change to the Hamptons community?

The East End is considered a ‘childcare desert.’ We are the only licensed nonprofit center filling the critical need for affordable childcare and high-quality early education on the East End. Many of our kids come from low-income households; some are headed by single parents; and most of our parents work full-time, often at multiple jobs. So, on a practical level, we’re here to support the hardworking families of our community.

But, at another level, we hope to shine a spotlight on the importance of early childhood education for all children. If you are a change agent, the way you bring change is by engaging and informing people, and not everyone knows how important those first five years are, especially everything kids are capable of at this age.

“We hope to shine a spotlight on the importance of early childhood education for all children.” –TIM FRAZIER

What are some ways East End residents can get involved in the organization?

We welcome people from all walks of life who want to volunteer. One way is to be a volunteer reader for BookTime, a program we run in partnership with the East Hampton Library. We are always looking for volunteers and donations to our clothing exchange and food pantry. There are also several fundraising events we run throughout the year and we always need volunteers.

Executive director of the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center, Timothy C. Frazier.

What is up next for you and the organization?

I would like to share a couple of upcoming events. Kites for Kids on Saturday, May 25, from 2 to 5 p.m. at East Hampton’s Main Beach. It is a fabulous community event for kids of all ages. $10 buys a kite to decorate and fly. Parking at Main Beach is free for the event!

Our annual summer fundraiser Cocktail Party is on Saturday, June 29, at Mulford Farm in East Hampton. The theme is ‘It Takes Our Village’ and celebrates our nonprofit partners who strengthen our program. It is our most important source of funding that goes directly to keeping our fees among the lowest on all of Long Island. It is a fun, multigenerational affair. Tickets go on sale soon, so give us a call! 1 Gingerbread Lane, East Hampton,631.324.5560,ewecc.org