Capital District Beginnings

Capital District Beginnings was founded in 1984 by Dr. Mary Garrett and Dr. Edward Welch. Dr. Garrett was a professor of special education at Russell Sage and Dr. Welch was a professor of special education and the Director of the SUNY Pre-K Program at SUNY Albany. Together, they opened the first Beginnings preschool special education program at the Troy YMCA. In 1991 Beginnings doubled its enrollment by incorporating the former SUNY Pre-K Program and expanding services to a seven county region. In 2009, Beginnings celebrated its 25th anniversary or providing high-quality, family-centered, community-based educational and therapeutic services. Today, Beginnings employs over 200 staff and serves over 800 children and families in a 12 county region. We operate over 40 community-based integrated preschool collaborative classrooms.