Educare Flint

Located in one of the neighborhoods hit hardest by the lead crisis, the Flint Early Childhood Education Center serves as a beacon of hope for young students and their families. RDG’s design for the state-of-the-art education center, which is situated on the campus of Durant-Tuuri-Mott Elementary School and serves children ages birth to five, offers learning spaces that reinforce Educare's research-based approach to education. Inside the 36,000-SF building are 18 early learning classrooms, a STEM learning lab, theater, mindfulness rooms and interactive elements throughout, all of which are designed to encourage learning through discovery. Outside, rolling play areas and cartoon-inspired playhouses create opportunities for hands-on educational play. Because the facility is meant to also serve parents, community spaces that support learning and job training are incorporated into the design.

Using integrated site design and architecture to support the concurrent delivery of both childcare and education, the center is a promising model for optimizing learning during the vital early years. The desire is to celebrate the racial, economic and cultural diversity of Flint while remaining sensitive to the neighborhood’s context and the City’s past. The building and site are designed to feel welcoming, inclusive and accessible.