SPRINGFIELD — Nikki Burnett has dealt with Janis Santos professionally for about 15 years, but her awareness of the retiring pioneer in child care and early education goes back much further.
“I was born and raised in Springfield’s Mason Square, and everybody knew Janis. We called her the godmother of Head Start,” said Burnett, who followed a similar career path and is executive director of Educare Springfield.
At the end of this year, Santos will retire as CEO of Holyoke Chicopee Springfield Head Start after 48 years of advocating for and administering early childhood education and care.
Santos’ impact on countless young people has been incalculable, and it’s been felt far beyond Hampden County.
“Janis was instrumental on the national level, going to the White House, speaking before Congress, and working with Sen. Edward Kennedy to advance Head Start,” Burnett said.
Janis Santos, executive director of Holyoke Chicopee Springfield Head Start, left, is greeted by Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) after testifying before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in Washington in 2003. (The Republican file photo)REPUBLICAN
“I have witnessed the tireless efforts of Janis to secure funding and resources to continuously improve and expand services for the children, families, and staff of HCS Head Start,” board of directors chairperson Susan Gosselin said. “Janis is the face of HCS Head Start, and although she is retiring, her spirit and legacy will be with us for many years to come.”
“I’ve been to what must be hundreds of events with Janis over the years. I’ve been delighted not only to talk with her but that we could support her and the Head Start staff,” U.S. Rep. Richard Neal said.
A search for a new CEO is underway at Head Start, a federal program that promotes the school readiness of children from low-income families from birth to age 5 by enhancing their cognitive, social and emotional development.
“Janis is a local icon in the field of early education. She was a pioneer,” said Mary Walachy, who retired in 2020 as executive director of the Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation, which promotes early education and literacy.
Santos’ career dates back to the 1970s, when such work was generally likened to babysitting. From personal experience, she knew it was much more.
“I was a teenage mother with a dream of going to college. In my late 20s, with three children, I enrolled in the evening division of Holyoke Community College, and a young man in my class encouraged me to start a Head Start in Ludlow,” she said. “My oldest child had had a very hard time in kindergarten. I wanted to help children.”
Santos had become what she called “a professional volunteer” at the Boys & Girls Club in her hometown. Ludlow’s public schools had not yet begun offering kindergarten, so she convinced club officials to create space for children all day.
In 1973, Santos opened Parkside Early Learning Center in Ludlow. Six years later, she was hired as executive director of Holyoke Chicopee Head Start Inc.
Janis Santos, left, executive director of HCS Head Start, eats lunch with young students in 2003. (The Republican file photo)
Under her leadership, the organization has grown to become the second-largest Head Start in the state and one of the largest providers of early childhood education in Western Massachusetts.
“She started in a basement area in Ludlow. When you talk about caring, compassion, and consummate professionalism for children — from diapers to families — you’re talking about Janis Santos,” Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said. “She has never put herself first. It was always about Head Start.”
Once viewed by mainstream society as a largely optional resource, preschool learning has emerged as a crucial and universally accepted component for healthy and well-adjusted children and their families.
“Even some of my friends said I should become a ‘real teacher’ and go teach kindergarten,” Santos said. “People thought all (child care professionals) did was play with children.”
“When she first started, childhood centers had to be opened in places like church basements, or any place where someone would donate the space,” Walachy said. “Nobody wanted to pay rent for kids to be served. Early education was an afterthought.”
“These were poor kids, too, and that might have been a factor. But in her energy and commitment to those kids, Janis was unwavering,” said Walachy, who represented the Davis Foundation in supporting Educare Springfield, a new center on Hickory Street.
“That was the first Educare facility in the state. Had Janis not said yes, we would not have it in the city,” Walachy said.
Neal described the arc of Santos’ career in historic terms.
“Head Start was one of the last legacies of President Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society (of the 1960s), and one of its core issues. Its popularity waxed and waned, depending on the enthusiasm of the presidential administrations, but it lasted,” Neal said.
“I heard from Janis regularly. She was one of the stalwarts of early childhood education, which she knew would not only lead to better educated children, but better citizens later.”
A breakthrough came in the 1990s, when a federal study revealed the importance of brain development in very young children. It validated Santos’ early years of work, and provided impetus for the future.
“It showed these are critical years,” she said. “We knew that. We prepare children for their first experience in school. Even now, the pandemic made employers realize they needed to pay more attention to child care, because they couldn’t get workers (without it).”
Santos has met three American presidents and testified before the Senate Health Committee. She especially treasures her work with Kennedy, who visited Parkside in its earliest days.
“He went right to the children and read them my favorite book, ‘The Red Balloon.’ Two months later, he called me and asked about that book because he wanted to read to some children in Virginia. He cared so much about children,” Santos said.
Janice Santos of HCS Head Start, left, presents an award during the 20th annual Dads Make a Difference Celebration in 2018. (The Republican file photo)
Santos has received a long list of local, regional and national awards for her work, and served on committees that helped shape the future of 21st century child care and early education. She is gratified that more public and private schools are sponsoring preschool programs, for it validates what she always knew about their need.
To Santos, though, there will always be a special place for Head Start.
“I love its diversity, with a staff of 300 that is so dedicated to families, children and our mission. Every child has a chance for success, in school and in life,” she said.
In retirement, Santos plans to be a consultant for Head Start. Working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic gave her time to reflect, she said, and she will also write her memoirs — a personal history that will serve as a chronicle of Head Start and early childhood care.
What she will never do, she said, is terminate her commitment to children.
“It’s been an awesome journey,” she said. “You don’t walk away from Head Start. I can’t.”
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Janis Santos will leave a lasting legacy as she retires from Holyoke Chicopee Springfield Head Start - masslive.com
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