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Cision PR Newswire
News Provided By The Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative
May 1, 2023
BOSTON, May 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Saul Zaentz Early Education Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education has announced the winners of its 2023 Zaentz Early Education Innovation Challenge. Now in its fourth year, the Challenge recognizes promising new ideas and strategic approaches that have the potential to transform early education. On April 27, 2023, 11 finalists pitched their ideas to a panel of judges and a...

We Are The Mighty
By Joel Searls
February 7, 2023
Saul Zaentz started out in the music industry post his service in the Army during World War II. He worked with the Jazz at the Philharmonic which included him managing tours for such musicians as Duke Ellington and Stan Getz. He joined Fantasy Records in the mid-1950s and stayed there through the 1960s having discovered Creedence Clearwater Revival. Although CCR and Zaentz didn’t end on the best terms they did find a lot...

By Dana Suskind
November 18, 2022
Compared with other wealthy nations, the United States is a uniquely difficult place to raise children. One in four mothers returns to work within two weeks of giving birth, and we’re the only rich country that doesn’t have federally mandated paid leave for new parents. While other wealthy countries invest an average of $14,000 a year for every toddler’s care, America spends $500. The pandemic sharpened our awareness of these problems—parents left the workforce in droves, child-care...

November 10, 2022
Alliance for Early Success allies across the country are sharing election results that impact children and families. We’ve compiled their summaries in an initial overview of where the country stands two days after the election.
While we don’t yet know the extent of the changes we’ll see on the national level, there is lots to report on state political landscapes — where the bulk of early childhood policy rises and falls....

New America
By Lydia Mackie
Oct. 27, 2022
Tiny monarch caterpillars arrived at the school, not floating through the air, but with the thud of a package on concrete.
Our postal carrier had no idea how many lessons were going to emerge from that box for the prekindergartners at our public school in Washington, DC. First, we created a mesh net habitat and placed it in the tiny side yard of our concrete school building, which is just a few feet from a busy...

The Reform Alliance
Oct. 18, 2022
The Reform Alliance says Focusing on education dialogue with students and families, not buildings, is step in right direction.
Little Rock, AR – The Reform Alliance is encouraged to see the unveiling of Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ education agenda. Her plan, Arkansas LEARNS, is a step in the right direction – focusing the education dialogue on students and families, not buildings.
“With third-grade reading levels at an abysmal 35 percent statewide, it is comforting to know that if she is...

SZCF's President Elliot Steinberg attended and spoke at The Hunt Institute's bipartisan Early Childhood Leadership Summit in Phoenix, AZ., along with Dr. Dana Suskind, author of Parent Nation, who was introduced by Steinberg as the event's keynote speaker. The event brought together 52 state teams, including Puerto Rico and Washington DC, comprised of senior elected officials, gubernatorial staff, and key early childhood system leaders....

By Alyssa Haywoode | Eye on Early Education
August 9, 2022
The Vital Role of Play in Early Childhood — and How to Explain this to More Adults
Play is important for children.
However, what’s missing from this important idea, a new report says, is a clear understanding of how play can be an effective learning strategy in early childhood settings – and how best to share this concept with the public.
The report – “The Role of Play in Designing Effective Early Learning Environments and...

By Peter Bart | Deadline
July 14, 2022
Where do great movies come from? When Netflix started creating its own shows a decade ago, Ted Sarandos and his colleagues put that question to select creatives around town. It was a smart exercise – but most respondents insisted there was no answer. Coincidentally I’d been putting out that question at various times over the years with equally ambiguous results. Saul Zaentz, the feisty film and music producer, once offered this response: “Great movies come...

By Mark Swartz | Early Learning Nation
July 15, 2022
The Zaentz Early Education Initiative at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) emphasizes research that drives policy and practice, as well as collective action that sparks systemic change. Since 2016, 43 fellows have taken part in the initiative, going on to leadership roles throughout the country while remaining in touch with the burgeoning Zaentz community. I spoke to three of the nine most recent fellows about their experience and their plans....

By Yitzi Weiner
June 6, 2022
Why & How Filmmaker Annette Porter of Saul Zaentz Innovation Fund at Johns Hopkins Is Helping To Change Our World
Meaningful change isn’t always instant, large-scale, or permanent. Real impact can take months or years, and may mean starting very small. But the rewards for facilitating even small changes are enormous and you have no idea where that small change may lead for you, or anyone else....

By Annette Porter | The Baltimore Sun
March 22, 2022
I was working on a movie not too long ago. We were in post-production, and we needed a voice-over. One of the executives of the film was adamant that the voice needed to be male. A male voice, he said, would add “gravitas” and “grandeur.” There was no discussion, no alternative. The guy wanted a male voice, and that was it. I’m not the first to say it, but Hollywood still has...

By Adobe Communications Team
March 21, 2022
As the past two years have shown, even throughout a pandemic and polarization, creativity can’t be held back. As we celebrate Women’s History Month, we shine our light on women creators who continue to make great strides even amidst our struggles.
Below are stories of hope and resilience, and sources of inspiration from 14 female creators — artists, filmmakers, organizers and entrepreneurs — that motivate us to raise our creative voices, to reflect on women's creative...

By Nick Rocco Scalia | Film Threat
March 16, 2022
"Rather miraculous . . . genuinely uplifting and inspiring in ways that even 'feel-good' fictional stories can’t often achieve. There’s compelling drama in the well-wrought contrasts between the harshness and of lower-income living in Chicago and the ambitions of Educare. Pulls at the heartstrings . . ."...

By Jason Whyte | Get Reel Movies
March 16, 2022
In TOMORROW’S HOPE you’ll get to know real people making a real difference on the South Side of Chicago. This is an experience that leads you heart-first into some of our most talked-about issues today, including systemic racism and the importance of providing access to education. It’s a journey with passionate educators and kids and their families who are finding a way to carve out the future, despite a sea of intense...

By Luke Y. Thompson | Films Gone Wild
March 11, 2022
Almost everyone says they want a better future and education for their children. But when it comes time to getting it done, other concerns often push the kids to the backburner, perhaps because children can’t lobby for themselves. Thankfully, they have advocates in companies like the Saul Zeantz Charitable Foundation, which funds documentaries focused on early childhood education. For their second feature, Tomorrow’s Hope, the foundation turned to producers Tamra Raven...

By Steve Kopian
MARCH 11, 2022
This is a hopeful tale of a program that gives kids enough of a leg up that they have a good shot at succeeding. I was so impressed that I found myself investigating the program right after I finished the film. The portrait this film paints such a good picture that you will wonder how the hell the program hasn't spread all across the county.
You need to see this film....