Planning for a Rainier Valley Early Learning Campus at Mt. Baker Light Rail
“The vision for this space is one of possibility: An inclusive and warm space, where children can grow and their families are supported, a space where educators can advance their skills, and the surrounding community can gather together. My hope for the UW College of Education is that we can be a strong partner to lift up families, care givers, educators, and future educators, in a state of the art space built specifically with the Mt. Baker neighborhood in mind." — Mia Tuan, dean of the UW College of Education
The University of Washington's College of Education has partnered with community to bring to life a vision for an early learning resource hub located at the Mt. Baker LINK station and serving the vibrant neighborhoods of the Rainier Valley. Since 2016, the College and our partners have dreamed a space shaped by community needs and community voice. We have worked together with partners from across the southeast Seattle area, the Mt. Baker neighborhood in particular, alongside educators and early learning professionals across our community.
Co-designed with Rainier Valley community members, the Rainier Valley Early Learning Campus (RVELC) addresses historical injustices in early learning by expanding access to affordable, high-quality childcare and preschool, centering anti-racist care and curricula, and providing tools, professional development and business supports to an industry led by practitioners of color. The RVELC will be a flagship workforce development and resource hub supporting early learning professionals locally and across the country.
Together, we envision a space that will serve families, educators, care providers, and aspiring educators from within our community.
The RVELC is built on years of organizing and designing together with community, and we commit to ongoing collaboration and shared leadership - please join us!
Community Input Summary
As part of this process, we connected with community organizations, parents, care providers and leaders across our community to hear about existing challenges and opportunities for early learning and childcare in the Mt. Baker neighborhood.
By February 2021, we had engaged with over two dozen organizations who serve the Mt. Baker and larger south Seattle communities:
- 129 family members of young children, community residents and organizational leaders
- 374 electronic surveys from South Seattle residents
- 34 South King County child-, family- and youth-serving organizations
- 42 UW faculty, staff and students
- 5 city and county offices
- 8 city, county and state elected officials
About the Space
The City of Seattle plans to redevelop the 3.8 parcel of land adjacent to the Mt. Baker LINK light rail station as affordable housing units. To learn more about the City’s process and updates, you can visit this page.
