Haddonfield Child Care’s new executive director Donna Marie Clancy is grateful to start a new chapter of her life at Haddonfield Child Care.
Haddonfield Child Care’s new executive director, Donna Marie Clancy, remembers sitting in a park waiting on two phone calls this past spring: one was a phone interview for Haddonfield Child Care while the other was word from her brother about whether they found a match for a liver transplant. She said she hoped the latter phone call would hold off just long enough so she could complete her interview with a clear head, and, thankfully, it did.
Now as Clancy prepares for the start of the school year and the start of Haddonfield Child Care’s programming on Sept. 11, she said she’s grateful both she and her brother have a fresh start, with Clancy getting selected for the position and her brother getting a new liver.
“It was like a new beginning all the way,” Clancy said. “I got the position, and he got a new hospital.”
It’s a new beginning for Haddonfield Child Care as well following the departure of long-time executive director Denise Sellers who retired after 31 years leading the program. Established in 1985, Haddonfield Child Care is a parent-run nonprofit that provides child care services before and after school for children in kindergarten through eighth grade.
Clancy said she knows it’s hard to transition, but she’s excited for the opportunity to step into the role.
“The theme is a new beginning and looking at things very positively,” Clancy said. “We’re all in this together. This year is for all of us to grow.”
For Clancy, working with children has been a lifelong passion. Growing up in Trenton, Clancy’s love of children came from her dad. She said he was a basketball coach and active member of their local church, and all of his volunteering efforts were focused on enriching children.
A dancer her whole life, Clancy’s performances would often have her and her fellow dancers performing for USO soldiers or special needs children through the local Elks Club. She said working with the special needs children was always her favorite.
Clancy received her bachelor’s of fine arts degree from Centenary College. She was the first New Jersey teacher certified in dance education.
Following graduation, Clancy worked at St. Joseph’s School in Beverly for eight years — first as a music teacher and then as a fourth-grade teacher. She would go on to become a pastoral associate working in religious education programming before embarking on long-term substitute teaching.
Seven years ago, however, Clancy began serving as the administrative coordinator for the Catholic Youth Organization of Mercer County as well as assistant director of the Hamilton Township Community Center that CYO won the grant to operate. During that time, she oversaw the operation of four before- and after-school programs in the Hamilton School District. The experience fostered a love of after-school programming in Clancy who had spent so much time in the classroom.
“I love the after-school programs because there’s more freedom than in a classroom, so you can enhance the child’s everyday school learning with things that the school district no longer has the funding to do,” Clancy said.
In Mercer County, she worked with four of the district’s failing schools. She said the children coming into CYO’s programs had non-English speaking parents who were unable to help them with their homework, so it was critical she and her staff provided the homework help to these students they weren’t getting at home.
Clancy, who still lives in Columbus, said coming from an urban environment to Haddonfield is quite the departure. She said she loves when she walks around Haddonfield, she sees children at play outside.
Within her first year at HCC, Clancy said she doesn’t plan to make any radical changes. She said she wants to experience the first year of HCC in its entirety to see what’s working well and what isn’t.
She said her main goal for the year is letting the community know the program exists and fostering local partnerships. She said she wants to bring her experience working with a community in need to Haddonfield and expose HCC’s children to the importance of reaching out. She said she has plans to connect with the Rotary Club and the local American Legion to get kids involved in community outreach, whether it’s writing cards for troops or collecting canned foods.
For Clancy, it doesn’t matter what kind of community they come from — all kids need to know that people care about them, and she wants kids to know that just because their parents have to work, they are not forgotten. She said making children feel cared for and appreciated is her greatest reward.
“I just get the feeling like I’m doing something worthy,” Clancy said. “You know you’re helping that foundation for something they can build on later in life.”
