Child Development Center

staff kneeling with a student painting on the ground

Welcome to The Child Development Center!

Mount Saint Mary's University

Our Center is designed to provide developmentally appropriate experiences for each child while accommodating their individual care needs. We strive for children and their families to have a positive experience in our program. We are dedicated to meeting and fostering the needs of children as they grow and develop and supporting their families. As an on-campus laboratory school, Mount Saint Mary’s University students acquire knowledge, training, and work experience that helps them prepare for their future careers.

About the program

Our mission

The mission of Mount Saint Mary’s University Child Development Center is to provide affordable quality early childhood education for young children in a safe, developmentally appropriate, and home-like environment. Our program is committed to serve and act on behalf of the needs, rights and well-being of young children and support their desire to be life-long learners. As a lab school, we also strive to provide a quality learning environment for future educators.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.

The program is operated on a non-discriminatory basis, with equal treatment to all applicants without regard to sex, sexual orientation, gender, ethnic group identification, race, ancestry, national origin, religion, color, or mental or physical disability. The Center welcomes the enrollment of children with disabilities, provided the Center can make reasonable accommodations for such children. Mount Saint Mary's University Child Development Center refrains from any religious instruction or worship.

More about The Center

About the program

Learn more about The Center's program, our educational philosophy, curriculum, and community partners.
Parents

Interested in signing up your child for the program or are you a current parent? Discover more information on how to apply and/or visit us.
Students

Are you a current Mount Saint Mary's University student? Learn more about the opportunities at The Center for students.

Our history

The Mount Saint Mary’s University (每日大赛入口) Child Development Center has been providing services to young children since the late 1960’s. The program is located in a beautiful house built in 1902 on our Doheny campus.

It started with 3 preschool classrooms and about 45 children from the community. In the morning, children were picked up from their homes in the central, south central, and southeast areas of Los Angeles. The program was a collaboration between 每日大赛入口 and USC and it was primarily a laboratory facility for teacher education. The college students from USC and 每日大赛入口 trained and completed fieldwork hours in the preschool classrooms. The children received a morning snack, one hour of instruction, and a full lunch before returning to their home at 12:30 p.m..

In 1971, Wilson C. Riles became the 23rd State Superintendent of Public Instruction in California and was dedicated to improving the education quality of children in inner cities. The creation of the Riles Bill from the Department of Education is a result of his dedication. The bill primarily funded the program. In total, 55 children attended the program. Children from the ages of 3-5 years attended in the morning and children from the ages 5-9 attended in the afternoon until 6 p.m..

Between 1974 and 1975, the Child Development Center received a $62,418 grant from the Department of Education.

The Child Development Center received funding from the State of California for its two programs. The two programs were the Preschool Program for children ages 2 to 5 and the School Age Program for children ages 5 to 8. The programs included learning the principles of language, science, math, and creative art through play.

Teachers and students recognized each child for their individuality and their personal needs. The student-run Early Childhood Education Club played an important role in planning activities for the children. These activities included the Annual Alumnae Easter Egg Hunt and the Week of the Young.

In 1973, no longer a collaboration with USC, Mount Saint Mary's University received funding from the California Department of Education and founded the Child Development Center as an outreach to the community and as a learning environment for the University students.

Meet our staff

The teaching staff are fully qualified early childhood professionals. The minimum qualifications for the classroom Lead Teachers are an earned baccalaureate degree in child development, a current Child Development Teacher Permit or higher, and experience working with young children. The director has a master’s degree in child development and a current Child Development Program Director Permit. The Child Development Teacher and Program Director permits are issued by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

Wendy Galan, M.S.

Program Director

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213.477.2977