Education - Child Care And Education

As dual wage-earning families become increasingly more common, reliable child care in turn becomes more and more crucial. Fortunately, Portland (and Maine as a whole) has a network of committed, professional child care providers who make quality child care a priority. It’s not surprising, then, that Maine was cited as the best state in the nation to raise a child in 1999 by the Children’s Rights Council, an advocacy group based in Washington, D.C. Here in Portland, several reliable referral services offer excellent resources for choosing quality child care and advocating effectively for our children and schools, and independent support services exist to assist parents at every step in their child’s development—from infants to adults. At the state level, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) keeps close tabs on child care providers and maintains a public list of those with violations.

Portland Public Schools is the state’s largest school district, serving 6,900 students. Facilities range from a one-room schoolhouse built in 1895 on Cliff Island to a state-of-the-art elementary school in downtown Portland.