In 1878, Nurtury opened a nursery for the children of working mothers, and became New England’s first early education and care agency. Since then, Nurtury has emerged as an industry leader, transforming childcare to include the delivery of  high-quality educational programming to promote language, literacy, and social/emotional development. During our 137 year history, Nurtury’s leadership has:

• Founded the National Association of Nursery Educators in the 1920’s – the precursor to the current National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), which is the leading professional organization in the field. NAEYC accreditation is the gold standard for early childhood programs in the United States.
• Advocated for the first basic Child Care Standards law in Massachusetts in the 1960’s, and in 1990, established the first child care Quality Assurance Department in the country to train and assist other agencies to meet the highest standards of quality in early education and care.
• Established the first early education center designed specifically to care for abused and neglected infants and toddlers. Almost 50 years later, this center continues to serve children and their families in and near the Mission Main housing development in Roxbury.
• Broadened our approach to early education and care to include family and community, and changed our name to Nurtury in 2014 to reflect this new vision.
• Developed a state-of-the-art early learning center from the ground up, which opened in 2014. Located in the Mildred C. Hailey (formerly Bromley-Heath) housing development, the facilities at Nurtury’s Learning Lab are exceptional for any neighborhood, but extraordinary in a public housing complex.  Early education, parent support, and community engagement are hallmarks of this center.
• Collaborated with other local agencies to establish the Put Massachusetts Kids First campaign in 2014. This coalition focuses on stabilizing and strengthening the early education workforce to improve outcomes for children who benefit significantly from qualified educators.

• Received the Community Recognition Award from ABCD’s Foster Grandparent Program and were honored at the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation at their Celebrating Excellence in Community Development in 2014 for demonstrating that innovative environments and the highest quality programs for children and families can thrive in public housing.