Hopkins-Locke Assistant Teacher Maria de Los Santos planned to keep learning after completing her apprenticeship in her son’s classroom in 2023.

Maria has now earned her Child Development Associate, the foundational credential for her career in early childhood education.

“It has helped me a lot, especially in early childhood education to better care for the children,” she said.

A native of Dominican Republic, Maria now has a year and a half of classroom experience to go with her credential. Managing work and other responsibilities while completing online coursework and required classroom time was the biggest challenge she overcame.

“Since my son started at Head Start, I really liked how LCCAA works and decided to stay,” she said.

Maria is one of 20 staff members to earn the CDA credential this year.