About South Shore Stars
Mission
South Shore Stars provides comprehensive early education and youth development programs that promote the optimal growth of children from diverse backgrounds. The Stars School & Learning Center extends this mission by offering specialized instruction for students with language-based learning differences. Through a family-centered approach and strong collaboration with educators and community partners, we ensure every child has the tools, confidence, and support needed to reach their full potential.
Four core goals form the foundation of our work.
- Enable parents to work
- Help each child reach their full developmental potential
- Facilitate positive youth development
- Improve achievement for students at risk of academic failure
Statement of Values
Community leaders and parents established Stars in 1970 as a nonprofit with the goal of providing affordable childcare to working families. From its inception Stars committed itself to create an environment which supports each child’s development. It is our intention that every child attending our programs is both nurtured and challenged.
We facilitate learning and foster developmental growth by identifying and building up each child’s strengths, skills, interests and learning styles.
We foster independence and taking initiative by viewing each child as an individual with their own experiences, knowledge, and skills. We believe that children learn by doing, trial-and-error, repetition, and imitation.
We respect our families’ many different cultures, welcoming and celebrating this diversity throughout our programs. Staff attempt to infuse a multicultural and anti-bias awareness into all activities, model behaviors that demonstrate appreciation of other cultures, support diversity of opinion, and create an atmosphere that encourages children to acknowledge and value individuality and diversity.
We attempt to instill in our children a respect for themselves, each other, staff, and their environment. We help them learn the importance of cooperation, negotiation, problem solving, and peaceful conflict resolution.
We help children understand that they are members of a larger community and encourage them to help other children, share, and learn firsthand the value of volunteerism.
We help children to be trustworthy and honest by nurturing and teaching them to make good choices and accept the responsibility of those choices.
Core Expertise
Our core expertise is our ability to integrate values and goals into program specific activities.
We are especially skilled at:
Supporting families
Our enrollment staff and Family Support Clinicians provide counseling, information and referral, and advocacy, help families to access a network of community resources in order to achieve self reliance. We take a holistic approach and look beyond individual children to needs affecting the whole family.
Individual planning for children with diverse needs
We implement techniques and strategies that bring incremental advancement and sustainable long-term progress. Our teaming model is committed to finding and implementing solutions for children with diverse needs, including but not limited to: developmental delays, social and emotional support, enrichment, English language learning.
Developmentally appropriate early education
We view each child as an individual, with his/her own experiences, knowledge and skills, age, and comprehension level. We employ a curriculum that emphasizes child-centered learning and facilitate developmentally appropriate activities to allow for physical, emotional, social and cognitive growth in young children.
Early assessment and intervention
Our team of teachers and Family Support Clinicians are skilled at identifying concerns and working with parents/guardians to address issues.
Academic enrichment
We are effective at integrating academic enrichment into school age programs through project-based learning and extra-curricular offerings.
Relationship building
We understand the value of positive adult and peer relationships and we are skilled at engaging and nurturing relationships with youth and families.
Measuring outcomes
Measures are integrated throughout all our work and inform programming. We make adjustments to ensure positive results for children and families.
Professional development
We provide opportunities and support for staff career development through our career lattice and intentional mentoring. Longevity of staff is high throughout our programs.
Board of Directors
The South Shore Stars Board of Directors is made up of accomplished leaders from business, education, and the community who believe in the power of early education to change lives. Their collective expertise and dedication keep Stars strong, forward-thinking, and deeply connected to the communities we serve.
2025-2026
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Paul Meoni, M.Ed. President
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Tom Findley, Vice President
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Cassie Ramos, Esq., Secretary
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Jack Zarkauskas, MBA, Treasuerer
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Ivelisse Caraballo
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Nancy Duggan, MS
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Ryan Hayes, MBA
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Richard McManus
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Maddy Pope, MA, CAGS
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Steve Saleeba, MS
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Mark Stanton
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Daniel Wahlberg
Leadership Team
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Renee Heywood, Ph.D.
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Kristin Calo, M.Ed.
Youth Programs Administrator
kcalo@southshorestars.org -
Karen Smizer, MNP
Director of Philanthropy
ksmizer@southshorestars.org
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Amanda Keenan
Director of Enrollment
akeenan@southshorestars.org -
Bobbie London, M.Ed. LMFT
Director of Family Support
blondon@southshorestars.org -
Gerald Thomas
Finance & Budget Manager
gthomas@southshorestars.org
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Jackie Martinson
Director of School Age Programs
jmartinson@southshorestars.org -
Amy McRae, M. Ed.
Director of Early Childhood Programs
amcrae@southshorestars.org -
Stacey Duszlak
Chief Financial Officer
sduszlak@southshorestars.org -
Eric Heath
DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES
EHEATH@SOUTHSHORESTARS.ORG
Financial Transparency
We are committed to operating with transparency and ensuring our donors understand the meaningful impact of their support. To learn more about our financial stewardship and organizational effectiveness, please view our most recent IRS Form 990s.
Our Story
South Shore Stars was founded in 1970 by Rosemary Wahlberg as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty.” What began as a small community initiative to provide affordable childcare quickly grew into a bold vision for change—one that recognized education as the key to opportunity and equity for all families.
From the start, Stars has been guided by two simple but powerful goals:
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To help parents work and achieve economic stability
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To ensure every child has the chance to learn, grow, and thrive
Over the decades, Stars has expanded thoughtfully and intentionally to meet the evolving needs of children and families. In 2005, in collaboration with founder Rosemary Wahlberg and other community leaders, educator John “Jack” Walsh became the first Center Director for the Afterschool Program at our Broad Meadows Center in Quincy. This milestone marked the beginning of Stars’ academic support programs for middle and high school students—followed by the launch of home visiting and wraparound services designed to strengthen families and sustain success. At every stage, we’ve remained committed to those original guiding goals.
Today, South Shore Stars serves more than 1,300 children each year across Weymouth, Randolph, and Quincy, MA. Our programs promote school readiness, academic success, and healthy development for a richly diverse community of learners. Many of our children grow up with us—from infancy through high school—building lifelong confidence and skills that empower them to succeed.
Our impact is made possible by low staff-to-child ratios, highly trained educators, engaged families, and strong partnerships with funders, community organizations, and volunteers. Through data-driven evaluation and continuous improvement, we maintain rigorous standards of excellence and accountability that consistently earn the trust of both public and private partners.
Now in our next chapter under the leadership of Dr. Renée Heywood, Executive Director, Stars continues to champion educational excellence, equity, and inclusion. In 2025, we opened The Stars School & Learning Center, a private elementary school serving children with language-based learning differences such as dyslexia—furthering our commitment to meeting every learner where they are.
For more than fifty years, South Shore Stars has been a catalyst for change—helping children, youth, and families reach their fullest potential through education, empowerment, and community connection. That vision continues to guide us today and into the future.
