Educators' Neighborhood

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Educators' Neighborhood

Educators' Neighborhood is a community of educators who learn together inspired from the life and work of Fred Rogers. We define "educator" broadly to include any adult who directly serves children, youth, families, and/or other educators. This year-long opportunity brings together a cohort of individuals from across the world who learn together, primarily through virtual meetings, and consider how to deepen their application of Fred Rogers' work and theory to their work with children.

Applications for the 2025-2026 cohort are closed.

Fred Rogers on a green bench bending over to tie his shoe. On the bench next to him is a duffle bag with X the Owl sticking out.

What are you wondering about Educators' Neighborhood?

For all of the details on the program, please download the guidebook. Here are a few of the most popular questions about EN participation:
Educators' Neighborhood is open to all professionals who work in the service of children, youth, and those adults who serve children and youth. 

Teachers and School Leaders - From infants to higher education, Educators’ Neighborhood participants serve children and youth of all ages and all contexts.

Out-of-school Learning Educators - Librarians, Museum Educators, Afterschool Providers, Summer and Camp Educators, and more make up a large part of our cohorts.

Therapists and Social Workers - School-based, private practice, and all providers of care and support to children and families.

Adult Educators - Quality Improvement Coaches, Professional Development Providers, and anyone working to support the adults who support children.

Educators’ Neighborhood includes 30 learning hours that are eligible for CEUs. All participants receive a certificate of participation at the end of the cohort year. If you are an educator in Pennsylvania, you are eligible to receive ACT 48 credits for participating in Educators’ Neighborhood.  We can provide additional documentation of completed learning hours for educators outside of Pennsylvania who are interested in transferring credits.
First, we invite you to check with your district, organization, intermediate unit, or professional certifying body. Professional development funds are often available to those required to obtain CEUs.

Thanks to generous support, we are able to offer full and partial scholarships to a large percentage of participants. If you think you might be a good fit for an EN scholarship, we invite you to complete our scholarship interest form at the end of the Educators’ Neighborhood application. 
 

If you plan to apply for PD funds through your school district or employer to support your participation in Educators’ Neighborhood, this is the essential information that you will likely need to provide. It is our hope that this information helps make your process of applying for participation in EN as smooth and as easy as possible!

For additional details including specific dates and content, please view our Guidebook.

  • What is Educators’ Neighborhood?: A community of educators who learn together inspired by the life and work of Fred Rogers. This year-long opportunity brings together a cohort of individuals from across the world who learn together through virtual meetings, and consider how to deepen their application of Fred Rogers’ work and theory to their own work.

  • What is the duration of participation?: September through May

  • How many total learning hours does participation include?: 30 hours

  • What is the content of Educators’ Neighborhood?: Discussions are grounded in the Six Fundamentals of Learning and Growing, the work of Fred Rogers, and applications to educator practice.

Testimonials of previous Educators' Neighborhood participants surrounded by two pictures. One image is of an apple resting on a stack of books. The second image is of a woman smiling while participating in a virtual meeting on her laptop.

Learn More and Stay Connected

Educators' Neighborhood began in 2019 as a collaboration between Melissa Butler, Sally Rushford, and a group of Kindergarten teachers at Pittsburgh Public Schools who shared the work of Fred Rogers with children in their classrooms. Educators' Neighborhood has grown into the global community of practice it is today through the creativity and dedication of countless educators and with generous support from The Grable Foundation, PNC, Jack Buncher Foundation, Zachary Stier, the family of Joshua Nathaniel Heaton, and many others. We are grateful to all who have been involved with the program along the way!

Please reach out to educators.neighborhood@stvincent.edu if you have questions about Educators' Neighborhood! 

Support Us

Your financial support of the Institute helps us expand our initiatives and resources so that educators and children's helpers can continue to learn and grow from Fred Rogers' legacy. Thank you!

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