“Dr. Sullivan was a visionary educator who played a major role in making Chicago a national leader in early childhood education. Her vision will live on for future generations of Chicago children and families.”

– Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel

The Lorraine M. Sullivan Memorial Fund of the Child-Parent Education Centers has been established to support the work of the Human Capital Research Collaborative in advancing multidisciplinary research on child development and social policy from prenatal to young adulthood.

Consistent with Dr. Sullivan’s life-long vision of education, the fund will be used to support the dissemination, expansion, and sustainability of the Child-Parent Center Preschool to 3rd Grade model, as well as research on enhancing its elements of effectiveness for children and families.

So far, the fund has:

• Enabled School-Community Representatives to serve full-time in Chicago schools.
• Supported teacher aides in Chicago, Saint Paul, Evanston, and Normal sites.
• Supported Parent Resource Teacher hires in Evanston, Saint Paul, and Chicago.
• Provided start-up funding for the CPC P-3 program in Madison, WI.
• Provided start-up funding for full-day preschool in Rochester, MN.

In many cases, schools have matched Sullivan Fund contributions to further expand the reach of program services. There are great teachers and great innovators. Lorraine M. Sullivan, the founder of the Child-Parent Centers in Chicago and school leader of 4 decades, was truly both. Dr. Sullivan passed away on October 3, 2013, at her home in Lake Forest, Illinois, at age 96.  Although there is much sadness in her loss, celebrating life is what she wanted most and how she lived every day.

Dr. Sullivan, former assistant Superintendent of Chicago Public Schools, and CPC founder was a pioneer in early childhood. In the establishment of the first Child-Parent Education Centers in May of 1967 she emphasized the importance of (i) parent involvement in the early school years, (ii) instructional approaches tailored to children’s learning styles and designed to develop their speaking and listening skills, (iii) small class sizes to provide for individual attention, and (iv) attention to health and nutritional services. This fund will continue her legacy for children and families.