About South Shore Stars
Mission
Stars provides comprehensive early education and youth development programs that enhance the optimal growth of children from economically and culturally diverse families, using a family support approach in collaboration with schools and other service providers.
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
Stars is governed by a Board of Directors composed of corporate executives, lawyers, academics, parents, community leaders and others who have a deep commitment to the early care and education needs of children and their families. They provide invaluable leadership, direction and support in helping to fulfill our mission.
2024-2025
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Paul Meoni, M.Ed. President
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Nancy Duggan, MS, Secretary
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Tom Findley, Vice President
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Steve Saleeba, MS, Treasurer
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Richard McManus
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Daniel Wahlberg
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Maddy Pope, MSW, At Large
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Mark Stanton
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Jack Zarkauskas, MBA
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Cassie Ramoz, Esq.
Leadership Team
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Jennifer Curtis, Ed.D.
Chief Executive Officer
jcurtis@southshorestars.org -
Kristin Calo
Youth Programs Administrator
kcalo@southshorestars.org -
Karen Smizer
Director of Philanthropy
ksmizer@southshorestars.org
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Amanda Keenan
Director of Enrollment
akeenan@southshorestars.org -
Bobbie London
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
Assistant Controller
sduszlak@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 by Rosemary Wahlberg in 1970 as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “War on Poverty.” This landmark federal initiative recognized—for the first time since World War II—the critical need for publicly funded childcare to help families achieve economic self-sufficiency. Yet the mothers and community leaders who created Stars envisioned something more: a comprehensive support system that would go beyond basic child care to promote lasting opportunity and equity.
From the start, Stars has been grounded in the belief that quality early education, academic enrichment, and family support are essential to breaking the cycle of poverty. Our work has always centered around two interconnected goals:
- Enable parents to work
- Support each of our children to thrive
Over the years, we’ve expanded thoughtfully and intentionally to meet the evolving needs of families. In 2005, we grew to include academic support programs for middle and high school students, followed by the launch of home visiting and wraparound services. At every stage, we’ve remained committed to those original guiding goals.
Today, South Shore Stars serves more than 1,300 children annually across Weymouth, Randolph, and Quincy. We work with a richly diverse population, focusing on school readiness, academic achievement, healthy development, and family empowerment. Many of our children grow up with us—from infancy through high school—becoming thriving, successful young adults. Stars remains unique in our ability to offer this continuum of care, especially for low-income and historically underserved families.
Our success stems from strong organizational values, rigorous standards, and a clear, accountable structure that supports the achievement of our mission. Stars is consistently recognized by public and private funders for our leadership in early education, high-quality programming, full enrollment, sound fiscal stewardship, and strict compliance with all requirements.
With low staff-to-child ratios, specially trained educators, family engagement specialists, and dedicated volunteers, we offer children the support they need to reach their full potential. Through continuous evaluation and progress monitoring, we ensure every program is aligned with measurable goals and outcomes.
For over 50 years, South Shore Stars has been a catalyst for change—locally and across Massachusetts—by advocating for underserved children, collaborating with stakeholders, developing innovative initiatives, and advancing policies that help families thrive.
Under the leadership of Dr. Jennifer Curtis Whipple, CEO and educational visionarian, we continue to deepen our impact. Dr. Curtis Whipple brings decades of experience and an unwavering commitment to educational equity, particularly for children with language-based learning differences. Her vision led to the creation of the Stars School & Learning Center, opening in 2025, which will serve children with dyslexia and language-based learning disabilities. This bold new chapter affirms our founding belief: every child deserves the opportunity to succeed.
