Free Preschool Is Expanding in Framingham. But Who Is Caring for the Babies?

As Framingham broadens access to free preschool, local childcare providers say the conversation also needs to include the years before preschool, when families often face some of their biggest childcare challenges.

FRAMINGHAM, MA / ACCESS Newswire / October 15, 2026 / For the 2026-2027 school year, Framingham Public Schools is offering no-cost school-day preschool programming for eligible 4-year-olds across multiple locations in the city. The expansion marks meaningful progress toward making early education more accessible for local families. But for parents, the childcare journey does not begin at age four.

Free preschool represents just one important piece of a much broader early-childhood system – one that must also support families during the infant and toddler years, long before a child enters a preschool classroom. For many parents, one of the most difficult points in that journey comes just months after a baby is born, when parental leave ends and they begin searching for safe, dependable childcare.

“Free preschool is an incredible investment in Framingham families,” said Evando Ananias, Co-Owner of The Teddy Bear Village Child Care Center. “But families need support long before age four. The infant and toddler years are often when parents are trying to balance work, family schedules, and the challenge of finding care they feel comfortable with.”

Infant care can be especially difficult for childcare providers to offer because it requires smaller groups, more staff and more individualized attention than care for older children. Feeding schedules, naps, developmental changes and one-on-one care all place additional demands on infant classrooms, contributing to higher operating costs and more limited capacity across the childcare sector.

“Babies don’t follow a classroom schedule in the same way older children do,” Ananias said. “Every child has their own rhythms, routines and needs. Having a strong team is necessary to give children that individual attention while also creating a calm, engaging environment.”

Massachusetts data has reflected those pressures. Infant and toddler classrooms have experienced higher closure rates than preschool classrooms in recent state reporting, highlighting the ongoing difficulty of maintaining sufficient care for the youngest children. That makes the years before preschool an important part of the broader conversation around childcare access.

In Framingham, many childcare providers – including The Teddy Bear Village – continue to maintain infant programs alongside toddler, Pre-K, and preschool care. TBV currently offers both full-day and half-day infant programming and has a large staff of early childhood educators and caregivers supporting children across its two Framingham locations.

The Teddy Bear Village also accepts Massachusetts childcare financial assistance vouchers, another way families may be able to access care during the years before their children reach preschool age.

For local childcare providers, Framingham’s free preschool expansion is not a competing program. Instead, it represents one piece of a broader early-childhood system.

“Free preschool is absolutely something worth celebrating,” Ananias said. “The next question is how we continue building a system that supports families during all the years leading up to it, too.”

About The Teddy Bear Village

The Teddy Bear Village Child Care Center is a Framingham-based early childhood education provider serving infants, toddlers, preschoolers and Pre-K children at two local locations. The center offers full and half-day infant care, supports families in English, Spanish and Portuguese, and accepts Massachusetts childcare financial assistance vouchers.

Media Contact

Evando Ananias
Co-Owner of The Teddy Bear Village Child Care Center
508-599-2100
eananias@tbvchildcare.com

SOURCE: The Teddy Bear Village

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

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