Throughout development and testing of the Early Education Essentials surveys, practitioners, researchers, and systems leaders have asked us what ECE programs that score high (well-organized) and low (weakly organized) on the Early Education Essentials surveys look like and feel like to staff and families experiencing those conditions daily. In response, a team of researchers from the Ounce and the UChicago Consortium spent three consecutive days in four ECE sites whose teacher/staff and parent survey responses to the Early Education Essentials surveys indicated that their essential supports were either very strongly organized or very weakly organized. Differences in their organizational climates and conditions were unmistakable. Well-organized programs created organizational contexts far more supportive of teaching, learning, and family engagement than programs that were weakly organized. By providing contrasting descriptions of strongly and weakly organized programs, this qualitative study helps educators, policymakers, and families understand how and why these essential supports at strong programs empower staff and families to create better outcomes for children. (author abstract)