BATON ROUGE — The East Baton Rouge Parish School System recognized 171 early childhood educators at a celebration at the Baton Rouge Marriott on Saturday. 

Honorees, which included 51 EBR pre-K teachers and 120 educators from partner childcare centers, charter schools and private providers, earned an "excellent" rating from the state's Classroom Assessment Scoring system.

Nearly 50 pre-K teachers also received stipends to participate in Science of Reading training funded by the Louisiana Department of Education. 

The Early Childhood Office also secured $1.1 million in funding to expand access to high-quality early learning seats, with the state planning to match the funds during the 2026-27 school year. 

"We are proud of the progress our educators and partners have made, but we are equally focused on expanding opportunities so that every child in our community enters kindergarten ready to learn and thrive," Shenoa Thompson, executive director of Early Childhood, said.

EBR Schools has also launched an At-Home Online Learning Platform, equipping families with accessible tools and training to support early development. 

The EBR Early Childhood Network earned a rating of 5.55 out of 7, outperforming several similarly sized districts.