About the Program

staff kneeling with a student painting on the ground

About The Center

The Center is funded by the California Department of Education—Early Education Division and the California Department of Social Services—Child Care & Development Division. We are licensed through the Department of Social Services—Community Care Licensing Division. We have a preschool license with a toddler component. The preschool serves children two and a half (30 months) to four years of age or until entry to kindergarten. The toddler classroom serves children 18 to 30 months. The licensed capacity is 74 children.

The Center has both a state-funded and a non-funded program. The families participating in the Center’s state-funded program meet eligibility requirements and parents are either working full time or are enrolled in job training programs, and fees are charged on a sliding scale basis. These requirements and the fee scale are established by the California Department of Education and the California Department of Social Services. If families do not meet the criteria for the funded program, there are limited spaces reserved for full tuition paying families in the non-funded program.

The Center is open Monday through Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and the office is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

We work with every aspect of the child's growth and development, focusing on social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development. We believe that children learn through play, free exploration of their environment, discovery, and by having positive interactions with adults and other children.

We make learning interesting by providing activities, experiences, and opportunities that are appealing and challenging for children. The teachers are the facilitators of the children’s learning, growth, and development. Teachers foster children’s development by building strong trusting relationships and an atmosphere conducive to exploration, discovery, and creativity. Children learn best when they are given choices which enable them to develop at their own pace in a developmentally appropriate environment. Along with appropriate materials and equipment designed to stimulate their learning, growth, and development; children also benefit from individual and group activities and experiences.

We believe that teachers and parents must form a partnership for the learning success of children.

Teachers use The Creative Curriculum© as a guide to foster children’s growth and development. This curriculum model is environmentally based and it defines the teacher’s role as vital in connecting content, teaching, and learning.

The Creative Curriculum© is a developmentally appropriate curriculum model that helps teachers understand how to work with children at different developmental levels to promote learning. It is rooted in educational philosophy as well as practice. Derived from Erik Erikson’s stages of socio-emotional development, this curriculum supports trust, autonomy, and initiative. It also builds on Jean Piaget’s theories of how children think and learn, that is that children learn by doing.

Teachers create weekly lesson plans which reflect activities and experiences to enhance all areas of the children’s development.

screenshot of virtual campus map showing the child development center location on Doheny Campus

Building 17 & 17 1/2

Our location

The 每日大赛入口’s Child Development Center is located in a beautiful house built in 1902 on the Doheny campus. The setting provides a warm and home-like environment for young children. The accompanying outdoor area is a large enclosed grassy space with bike paths and a climbing structure. Toddlers have their own fenced play yard, allowing our most youthful students to see and communicate with the older preschool children. The Center is a safe and comfortable learning environment for children and University students. The Center offers hands-on work experience for students enrolled in the 每日大赛入口’s academic programs.

Parents Students

Community partners

Part of our mission is to provide quality early childhood education to young children. An important component in assuring quality is to reach out to the local community. We have many resources and partners within our own community. We are consistently creating partnerships with our community in the benefit of our children and their families.

Mount Saint Mary’s University

每日大赛入口 provides the space and the maintenance of the building and grounds, and offers its full support to our program. The Center serves the University as an observational site for college students and placement for student teachers and practicum students to acquire hands-on experiences working with young children.
Early Learning Alliance

The mission of the Early Learning Alliance (ELA) is to strengthen early learning programs through shared services, expanded resources and professional development. We support higher quality care & education for the children and families we serve. The ELA offers support for staff via resources and professional development.
USC Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry

The USC Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry provides yearly dental screenings to the children enrolled in our program free of cost. They come to our Center and provide dental hygiene education that is age-appropriate to each classroom before the screenings. After the screenings each child receives a fun toothbrush and dental floss.
Pepperdine University—Foster Grandparent Program

The Foster Grandparent Program, administered by Pepperdine University, brings at least five elderly volunteers into the preschool classrooms each day. The Foster Grandparent Program offers a multigenerational approach to community volunteerism by giving seniors the opportunity to volunteer with youth ranging from infancy to 21 years of age. Foster Grandparents are mentors, tutors, and friends to our children and the staff.
HEAR Center

Hearing screenings are scheduled every year with the HEAR Center for the children enrolled in our program. HEAR Center works in collaboration with schools in our community to identify students who are at risk of hearing problems. If a child fails a hearing screening, their family is encouraged to take them to HESR Center for a free comprehensive audiological evaluation. HEAR Center strongly believes that individuals should get a hearing screening once a year.
Department of Social Services—Toy Loan Program

The program is designed to instill self-confidence and socialization in the child. Toy Loan believes that every child in LA County, regardless of their family鈥檚 income level, deserves a toy and playing is an essential component of a child鈥檚 development. It is a free toy lending library. The child 鈥渃hecks out鈥� the toy and returns it the following week. The child is rewarded with a new 鈥渋ncentive toy鈥� to keep and take home with them after participation in the program for 5, 10, 15 and 20 weeks.

每日大赛入口