SECOND SHIFT · FROM THE FIELD
Durham, North Carolina · Child care · Short-term credential
Original reporting: Tori Newby, INDY Week · September 28, 2026 (also published by The Assembly)
Fatima Ramirez had worked as a nanny for several years but never thought she could afford college, INDY Week’s Tori Newby reports. This spring, the 21-year-old completed the Early Educator Academy and was hired right away as a teacher at the Little School at Duke.
“I just couldn’t believe it was real, to actually continue my education and keep doing what I like doing,” Ramirez told the INDY.
The academy is a free, short program from Durham-based nonprofit Early Years and Durham Technical Community College. It pairs an introductory early childhood course with health and safety training and time shadowing teachers, leading to a credential that qualifies graduates to be lead teachers, according to the report. On graduation day, the partners host a job fair.
Ramirez is now working toward more credentials through Early Years’ apprenticeship program, which includes a full scholarship for an associate degree, taking one class a semester alongside her new job, the INDY reports.
The program is still small. Four cohorts of roughly 20 have run so far, and about half of graduates currently work as early childhood educators, Durham Tech department chair Cathy Collie-Robinson estimated. Academy graduates earn $17 to $18 an hour, compared with a state average of about $14 for early childhood educators, Early Years’ Maggie West told the INDY.
Location Decision takeaway
Child care is workforce infrastructure: when centers can’t staff classrooms, parents can’t take jobs. This academy shows how a short, free credential tied to a job fair can move people into hard-to-fill roles. It also shows the limits the INDY reports: small cohorts, unspent state money and wages still below a living wage. That is our analysis; the facts are as reported.
Second Shift tells the stories of people building what’s next through new skills, new careers and second chances. From the Field items are curated from credited reporting, with Location Decision’s perspective. Location Decision Originals are independently reported by our team.
Curated by Location Decision. Originally reported by Tori Newby, INDY Week, September 28, 2026.
This item was sourced and drafted with AI assistance and reviewed under Location Decision’s editorial standards. Second Shift tracks workforce outcomes to inform our broader editorial analysis. All reporting belongs to the credited journalists; read the original story for the full account.