AUGUSTA -- The idea is innovative: Provide quality education to children in the earliest years of life, from prenatal to age 5.

Waterville will get to see how well it works firsthand.

That was decided Monday when first lady Karen Baldacci announced Waterville will be the site for an "Educare" Center, the first in New England.

That selection brings $4 million in outside contributions, including $3 million from Doris Buffett, sister of billionaire investor Warren Buffett, and $2 million from local donors Bill and Joan Alfond.

Bill Alfond is the son of the late Harold Alfond, the multimillionaire philanthropist and former owner of Dexter Shoe.

"It is a great day for Maine, a great day for Maine's children and a great day for Maine's future," Baldacci said at a Blaine House ceremony.

Waterville beat out three other communities -- Portland, Bangor and Lewiston -- that initially vied to become the site.

The plan, developed by the Greater Waterville Alliance for Early Care & Learning, will construct a $10 million building -- $4 million in private funds has yet to be raised -- that would serve 166 children, mostly from low-income families.

The facility will feature a staff of more than 60 educators and child-development staff.

Contact with Educare families starts at the prenatal stage, with staff providing support and guidance to expectant mothers.

The facility will be constructed next to George J. Mitchell School, with Labor Day 2010 the projected opening date.

as the date the Educare Center will open.

Joan Alfond, a former kindergarten teacher, sees the multimillion-dollar investment as building on the Harold Alfond College Challenge, a program of the Alfond Foundation, that Jan. 1 makes every child born in Maine eligible for a $500 scholarship dedicated to college costs.

That program focuses on post-secondary education. Educare, Joan Alfond said, targets children at the other end of the spectrum, and for good reason, given the poor school-readiness numbers of children starting kindergarten in Maine.

"For the state of Maine to have 46 percent of our children not up to grade level when they enter kindergarten is unacceptable," she said.

In many cases, the children behind are from economically disadvantaged families, according t o the Maine Department of Education.

"We want to even the playing field," Joan Alfond said. "That is our thing. Every kid should be given an education."

Waterville School Superintendent Eric L. Haley is one member of the Waterville Alliance, as well as a former high school teacher and principal who saw the challenge, if not the futility, of getting students up to grade level at that point in their schooling.

"It is not enough to give this child an extended school year to catch up," he said. "Doing more of the same doesn't work. And if what you're doing is not working, you have to rethink what you are doing. That is what this does."

What Educare does is embrace research that shows 85 percent of brain development occurs before age 3.

Waterville pediatrician John Salvato is a strong advocate for providing a rich learning environment in those earliest years.

He helped found an indoor playground in Waterville -- called the Indoor Out Playground -- more than a decade ago in an effort to help foster that critical brain development.

Salvato, a Waterville Alliance member, expects the Educare Center will have an enormous benefit for the children it serves.

"Everybody should say 'Holy mackerel. I can't believe this is happening in Maine,'" he said, "because this is not just for Waterville. This should be a model for other centers in Maine and for other states that have a similar population base."

State officials have a similar view.

First Lady Baldacci stressed that the Educare Center is part of a state initiative -- and a critically needed one at that.

She noted that Maine taxpayers spend $300 million annually on special education, much of it to support students behind in their learning development.

Baldacci also argued that any money put into Educare is a wise move, consistent with her husband's commitment to strategic investments to strengthen Maine's economy.

Haley supported that viewpoint.

"We truly believe this is going to make a difference," he said. "This is an economic project. It really is."

Colin Hickey -- 861-9205

chickey@centralmaine.com