Press

Spectrum News: Texas parents dealing with dueling threats of flu, RSV. November 4, 2022.

Community Impact Newspaper: United Way for Greater Austin donates over $2 million to nonprofits in Travis and Williamson counties. June 8, 2022.

KXAN: More than half of children in Texas abuse, neglect deaths were not enrolled in day care or school. March 17, 2022.

The New Republic: Is the Pandemic Rewiring Kids’ Brains? October 25, 2021.

KXAN: How stricter COVID-19 protocols, case surge affects child care. August 30, 2021.

The Hechinger Report: What changes families need to recover from the past year. June 21, 2021.

NPR Marketplace: Child care providers weigh the costs and benefits of reopening. September 8, 2020.

KUT: Lack Of Child Care Isn't Just A Struggle For Texas Parents. It Could Also Cripple The Texas Economy. August 31, 2020.

Stay tuned on social

Time to Amplify Mainspring! Donate today!
To our wonderful Mainspring community, I’m pleased to announce that Colin Swanson will serve as the next Executive Director of Mainspring Schools. Colin has been part of the Mainspring community for nearly a decade, first as a parent and mo
To our wonderful Mainspring community, I’m pleased to announce that Colin Swanson will serve as the next Executive Director of Mainspring Schools. Colin has been part of the Mainspring community for nearly a decade, first as a parent and most recently on the leadership team as Managing Director. During the hiring process, the Board of Directors was drawn to Colin’s unique combination of personal experiences and professional background. Colin was a foster parent before adopting her son. Three of her foster children became Mainspring students. Like other Mainspring parents, Colin has navigated the social services and healthcare systems required to care for her family. Professionally, she brings decades of financial management experience and was instrumental in solidifying Mainspring’s processes and financial health. During her career, Colin has consulted with corporate and nonprofit organizations across the globe on financial data management, reporting and budget preparation. In addition to her business acumen, Colin is an award-winning and published creative writer. She has been a professor and lecturer at numerous universities, including The University of Texas, Southwestern University, and Texas State University. Colin has a B.A. from Smith College, an MFA from the University of Texas and an MBA from the College of William & Mary. As a trusted resource for Mainspring children, families, team members and partners, Colin will provide a seamless transition from outgoing Executive Director Jason Gindele, who will wrap up on Monday, December 19. On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am thrilled to welcome Colin to her well-deserved new role and look forward to her leadership of our 81-year-old community institution. Congratulations, Colin! Sincerely, Tim Weston Chair, Board of Directors Mainspring Schools
Our amazing friends at the Commercial Brokers Association of Austin have supported the Mainspring children, families and team for years. On Thursday evening, CBA gave an amazing $50,000 gift to Mainspring. For a school like ours, that goes a LONG way
Our amazing friends at the Commercial Brokers Association of Austin have supported the Mainspring children, families and team for years. On Thursday evening, CBA gave an amazing $50,000 gift to Mainspring. For a school like ours, that goes a LONG way! And not only does the CBA team raise funds for Mainspring, but they also volunteer and go out of their way to help us improve our facility. We are incredibly thankful!
Giving Tuesday is just getting started! The Gallogly Family Foundation is matching all donations up to $5,000! * Your donation today has twice the impact and helps provide high-quality early childhood education, nutrition, family services, and commun
Giving Tuesday is just getting started! The Gallogly Family Foundation is matching all donations up to $5,000! * Your donation today has twice the impact and helps provide high-quality early childhood education, nutrition, family services, and community building! * #givingtuesday
Thanks to our wonderful friends in the School in the Hills community for today's delivery of Thanksgiving food. We appreciate how they are always looking out for our children and families!
Thanks to our wonderful friends in the School in the Hills community for today's delivery of Thanksgiving food. We appreciate how they are always looking out for our children and families!
As a nonprofit organization, Mainspring is supported by people who make the decision to be part of a child's life by donating. It costs $101 per child, per day, to deliver this level of exceptional early care and family support. Whether through a on
As a nonprofit organization, Mainspring is supported by people who make the decision to be part of a child's life by donating. It costs $101 per child, per day, to deliver this level of exceptional early care and family support. Whether through a one-time gift or a monthly donation, your gift of $101 will—quite literally—make a child's day. Join us right now to make an impact for a lifetime! Link in bio 🙏
Kevin Fincher and Jennifer Van Cleave of @rsmusllp shared the story of the firm's history with Mainspring Schools. Check it out! Link in bio. #philanthropy #community #ilivehereigivehere #localimpact
Kevin Fincher and Jennifer Van Cleave of @rsmusllp shared the story of the firm's history with Mainspring Schools. Check it out! Link in bio. #philanthropy #community #ilivehereigivehere #localimpact
DYK: Mainspring Schools offers much more than high-quality early childhood education. Read more about how we delivery therapy & case management, wellness & nutrition programs, and extracurricular opportunities on our latest blog post (link in
DYK: Mainspring Schools offers much more than high-quality early childhood education. Read more about how we delivery therapy & case management, wellness & nutrition programs, and extracurricular opportunities on our latest blog post (link in bio). #earlychildhoodeducation #socialwork #foodsecurity #earlyliteracy #music #dance
It's Ms. Hope's third anniversary with Mainspring Schools! Hope takes care of the 3- and 4-year-olds in the Songbirds classroom, and we are constantly amazed by the impact she has on her kiddos. Here's what Hope said about her journey at Mainspring:
It's Ms. Hope's third anniversary with Mainspring Schools! Hope takes care of the 3- and 4-year-olds in the Songbirds classroom, and we are constantly amazed by the impact she has on her kiddos. Here's what Hope said about her journey at Mainspring: "While serving as Mainspring’s Americorps member, I was struck by how different this environment was from any other preschool I had experienced. To me, Mainspring is a place overflowing with love that you can really feel from everyone here. I cherish being a part of the Mainspring family because each day I am learning and growing while also getting to share some knowledge and my whole heart with my little Songbirds." Thank you for making our school such a special place, Hope! Happy work-iversary 💙💛 #teachersofinstagram #earlychildhoodeducator #earlyyearsteaching
Three decades ago, Larry came across a @statesman classified ad seeking volunteers for Austin Community Nursery. He showed up ready to garden...and realized he was at the nursery school now known as Mainspring! Larry lent a hand anyway, and wound u
Three decades ago, Larry came across a @statesman classified ad seeking volunteers for Austin Community Nursery. He showed up ready to garden...and realized he was at the nursery school now known as Mainspring! Larry lent a hand anyway, and wound up joining our staff 30 years ago today. He's spent these years taking wonderful care of our building, our playgrounds, our children—and yep, even our gardens 😄 Fun fact: Larry met his wife at Mainspring when she was a teacher here, and we're so glad they are both part of the Mainspring family! Happy work-iversary, Larry. Thank you for taking care of our school! #childcarecenter #volunteers #workiversary
GREAT news: Mainspring Schools is rated as a four-star school by Texas Rising Star (the highest score possible)! This is all thanks to our teachers and the amazing work they do every day with our children. Not only were Mainspring's CLASS scores high
GREAT news: Mainspring Schools is rated as a four-star school by Texas Rising Star (the highest score possible)! This is all thanks to our teachers and the amazing work they do every day with our children. Not only were Mainspring's CLASS scores higher than the national average for Early Head Start centers, but we were the only center TRS assessed that attained a four-star rating based on those scores. That's huge! Thank you to all of the Mainspring teachers that work so hard to make our school one of the best ones around! #earlychildhoodeducation #earlychildhoodeducators #highquality #teachergram
It's Subhi's three-year anniversary with Mainspring Schools, and we are so thrilled to wish her the happiest of days today 🥳 "Working with children has forever been a passion of mine! Mainspring provides that supportive atmosphere for all of u
It's Subhi's three-year anniversary with Mainspring Schools, and we are so thrilled to wish her the happiest of days today 🥳 "Working with children has forever been a passion of mine! Mainspring provides that supportive atmosphere for all of us to reach our fullest potential. Seeing these kiddos share their love and creativity everyday inspires me even further to help them in finding their voice and identity as a child," Subhi said. Thank you for taking care of our Grasshoppers, Subs, and happy work-iversary to you! #teachersofig #earlyeducators #childcareprofessional
Here are some great ways you can help your child learn restraint, patience, and persistence. These tips could really help your child learn some lifelong skills! Read the full article from @naeyc at the link in our bio #earlychildhood #parentingtips
Here are some great ways you can help your child learn restraint, patience, and persistence. These tips could really help your child learn some lifelong skills! Read the full article from @naeyc at the link in our bio #earlychildhood #parentingtips #familylife
For all of us at Mainspring, the long weekend served as a double-whammy of celebrations: Sunday marked Ashley Martinez's tenth anniversary with our school! 🎊 "I began as a substitute teacher and fell in love with Mainspring. That's when I deci
For all of us at Mainspring, the long weekend served as a double-whammy of celebrations: Sunday marked Ashley Martinez's tenth anniversary with our school! 🎊 "I began as a substitute teacher and fell in love with Mainspring. That's when I decided to become a full-time caregiver to this diverse community," Ashley said. "I'm also now a parent and my son is being well taken care of and taught new things by wonderful teachers here at Mainspring. I'm so happy and comfortable with my son's care that I can give all my attention to my babies in class." We are honored to shine the attention on you, Ashley! You are a Mainspring institution, and we wish you a happy work-iversary! #teachersofinsta #childcareprofessional #earlychildhoodeducator
Mainspring's birth-to-two-year-old classrooms are halfway through a 10-week program that measures and evaluates conversational turns as they happen in real time during the school day. Using the Language Environment Analysis (LENA) "talk pedomete
Mainspring's birth-to-two-year-old classrooms are halfway through a 10-week program that measures and evaluates conversational turns as they happen in real time during the school day. Using the Language Environment Analysis (LENA) "talk pedometer" device, teachers are making proven, sustainable increases in interactive talk with children. Children wear a comfortable overshirt that holds the LENA device close to the chest. The device listens for sound frequencies, the spaces between sounds, and levels of of adult v. child speech. Cloud-based software then generates objective, actionable feedback reports on the quantity and quality of talk in each child’s environment. With a complete picture of where we are, we can work together to get where we're going: optimal brain development in the earliest years so that all children enter kindergarten prepared for success. We are proud to report that Mainspring teachers are knocking it out of the park, achieving increases in language in all classrooms!
ICYMI: check out a new video about how Mainspring Schools is transforming our community! #earlychildhood #childcarecenter #2gen #nonprofitsofinstagram
We are excited to welcome our new Family Services Director, Amanda Lloret Pineda, to Mainspring Schools! For the past 10 years, she's been improving the well-being of children and families around the globe, from Catalonia to New York to Philadelphia
We are excited to welcome our new Family Services Director, Amanda Lloret Pineda, to Mainspring Schools! For the past 10 years, she's been improving the well-being of children and families around the globe, from Catalonia to New York to Philadelphia to Austin. Fun fact: Amanda speaks seven (!) different languages: Catalan, Chinese, French, German, Russian, Spanish, and English. Benvinguda, 欢迎, bienvenue, willkommen, добро пожаловать, bienvenida, and welcome to Mainspring, Amanda! #earlyeducators #lcsw #childcareprogram
We are thrilled to share that Colin Swanson has a new title: Managing Director! Colin has been with Mainspring since 2017, and this better reflects her wide-ranging impact on the organization, from financials to partner management to operations and
We are thrilled to share that Colin Swanson has a new title: Managing Director! Colin has been with Mainspring since 2017, and this better reflects her wide-ranging impact on the organization, from financials to partner management to operations and more. She is a go-to resource for everyone because of her knowledge in so many areas (including holding babies, her favorite pastime) and her thoughtful approach to people and both professional and personal matters. On top of that...she aced her accounting test over the weekend! Congrats, Colin! You are a star ✨
The CDC has recommended COVID-19 vaccination for children ages six weeks to five years old, with vaccines rolling out as early as this week! The folks at @austinpublichealth will have updates about local availability. Stay tuned, bring questions or c
The CDC has recommended COVID-19 vaccination for children ages six weeks to five years old, with vaccines rolling out as early as this week! The folks at @austinpublichealth will have updates about local availability. Stay tuned, bring questions or concerns up with your pediatrician, and help keep our youngest neighbors safe by taking this important step forward.
Today was water play AND pizza day—talk about ending the week on a high note! To top it all off, the board treated our staff to a delicious lunch. Shout out to the hardworking, capable, and immensely valued teachers of Mainspring Schools. You
Today was water play AND pizza day—talk about ending the week on a high note! To top it all off, the board treated our staff to a delicious lunch. Shout out to the hardworking, capable, and immensely valued teachers of Mainspring Schools. You are amazing people doing amazing things and the heart of our school. #childcareadventures #playspace #earlyyears #teachers #earlyeducators
Time to Amplify Mainspring! Donate today!
To our wonderful Mainspring community, I’m pleased to announce that Colin Swanson will serve as the next Executive Director of Mainspring Schools. Colin has been part of the Mainspring community for nearly a decade, first as a parent and mo Our amazing friends at the Commercial Brokers Association of Austin have supported the Mainspring children, families and team for years. On Thursday evening, CBA gave an amazing $50,000 gift to Mainspring. For a school like ours, that goes a LONG way Giving Tuesday is just getting started! The Gallogly Family Foundation is matching all donations up to $5,000! * Your donation today has twice the impact and helps provide high-quality early childhood education, nutrition, family services, and commun Thanks to our wonderful friends in the School in the Hills community for today's delivery of Thanksgiving food. We appreciate how they are always looking out for our children and families! As a nonprofit organization, Mainspring is supported by people who make the decision to be part of a child's life by donating. It costs $101 per child, per day, to deliver this level of exceptional early care and family support. Whether through a on Kevin Fincher and Jennifer Van Cleave of @rsmusllp shared the story of the firm's history with Mainspring Schools. Check it out! Link in bio. #philanthropy #community #ilivehereigivehere #localimpact DYK: Mainspring Schools offers much more than high-quality early childhood education. Read more about how we delivery therapy & case management, wellness & nutrition programs, and extracurricular opportunities on our latest blog post (link in It's Ms. Hope's third anniversary with Mainspring Schools! Hope takes care of the 3- and 4-year-olds in the Songbirds classroom, and we are constantly amazed by the impact she has on her kiddos. Here's what Hope said about her journey at Mainspring: Three decades ago, Larry came across a @statesman classified ad seeking volunteers for Austin Community Nursery. He showed up ready to garden...and realized he was at the nursery school now known as Mainspring! Larry lent a hand anyway, and wound u GREAT news: Mainspring Schools is rated as a four-star school by Texas Rising Star (the highest score possible)! This is all thanks to our teachers and the amazing work they do every day with our children. Not only were Mainspring's CLASS scores high It's Subhi's three-year anniversary with Mainspring Schools, and we are so thrilled to wish her the happiest of days today 🥳 "Working with children has forever been a passion of mine! Mainspring provides that supportive atmosphere for all of u Here are some great ways you can help your child learn restraint, patience, and persistence. These tips could really help your child learn some lifelong skills! Read the full article from @naeyc at the link in our bio #earlychildhood #parentingtips For all of us at Mainspring, the long weekend served as a double-whammy of celebrations: Sunday marked Ashley Martinez's tenth anniversary with our school! 🎊 "I began as a substitute teacher and fell in love with Mainspring. That's when I deci Mainspring's birth-to-two-year-old classrooms are halfway through a 10-week program that measures and evaluates conversational turns as they happen in real time during the school day. Using the Language Environment Analysis (LENA) "talk pedomete
ICYMI: check out a new video about how Mainspring Schools is transforming our community! #earlychildhood #childcarecenter #2gen #nonprofitsofinstagram
We are excited to welcome our new Family Services Director, Amanda Lloret Pineda, to Mainspring Schools! For the past 10 years, she's been improving the well-being of children and families around the globe, from Catalonia to New York to Philadelphia We are thrilled to share that Colin Swanson has a new title: Managing Director! Colin has been with Mainspring since 2017, and this better reflects her wide-ranging impact on the organization, from financials to partner management to operations and The CDC has recommended COVID-19 vaccination for children ages six weeks to five years old, with vaccines rolling out as early as this week! The folks at @austinpublichealth will have updates about local availability. Stay tuned, bring questions or c Today was water play AND pizza day—talk about ending the week on a high note! To top it all off, the board treated our staff to a delicious lunch. Shout out to the hardworking, capable, and immensely valued teachers of Mainspring Schools. You