Center will provide the Smart Horizons Career Online Education program to the mothers of the children they serve in order to build a better career, education, and financial outlook

Jack & Jill Children’s Center has announced that they will offer Smart Horizons Career Education’s online high school to mothers of the children in their early childhood program. The program will be provided free of charge in an effort to enable these parents to earn an accredited high school diploma and improve their immediate and long-term employment outlook, while enhancing family stability.

Located in Fort Lauderdale, FL, the Jack & Jill Children’s Center is the oldest nonprofit provider of early childhood education in Broward County, having served more than 14,000 children and families in the last 75 years. The Center offers a school for children of high-need working families, as well as parenting and family programs, in an effort to break the cycle of poverty in South Florida.

Smart Horizons Career Online Education (SHCOE), also based in Broward County, provides competency-based, workforce-aligned high school education for the millions of adults in the U.S. without high school diplomas. The program blends flexible online delivery with extensive student support services.

“Through programs such as this, families can increase financial stability, maintain employment, achieve job advancement, and foster their children’s healthy development,” said Executive Director Heather Siskind. “As a result, parents gain confidence, children perform better, and families function at higher levels of stability.”

It is estimated that more than 225,000 adults in Broward County lack a high school diploma, with approximately 267,000 people living in poverty.1 Research shows that a high school dropout will earn nearly $400,000 less than a high school graduate over the course of a lifetime.2

In addition to a high school diploma, as part of the program parents earn a workforce training certificate in areas such as Retail Customer Service, Protection Officer, Commercial Driving, Child Care, Food and Hospitality, and Office Management.

“We are pleased to be partnering with this local non-profit in an effort to break the cycle of poverty in our community,” said Dr. Howard Liebman, SHCOE Superintendent of Schools. “Earning a high school diploma builds a critical pathway to brighter futures, opening doors to employment opportunities or further educational attainment.”

About Jack & Jill Children’s Center
Jack & Jill Children’s Center is a private, not-for-profit early learning center focused on stabilizing, educating and empowering children and families in Broward County since 1942. Our mission is to break the cycle of poverty for children of high-need working families through quality early childhood education and family strengthening programs. For more information, please call 954.463.8772 or visit www.jackandjillcenter.org. .

About Smart Horizons Career Online Education
Smart Horizons Career Online Education, founded in 2009 and based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is a private, AdvancED/SACS/NCA/NWAC accredited online school district. District accreditation signifies that SHCOE and all of its schools are fully accredited and that SHCOE is recognized across the nation as a quality school system. SHCOE offers 18-credit, career-based high school diploma programs that are designed to prepare students for entrance into the workplace. Career certificate offerings include Child Care, Office Management, Protection Services, Homeland Security, Commercial Driving, Retail Customer Service, Food and Hospitality, and General Career Preparation. For more information, visit shcoe.org.

Sources:
1U.S. Census Bureau, Quick Facts, Broward County, Florida, https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/browardcountyflorida/PST045216

2Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Unemployment rates and earnings by educational attainment, 2016, www.bls.gov/emp/ep_chart_001.htm