WE ARE HIRING FOR TEACHERS! Join our Community of Dedicated Professionals Current Page: About Programs Professional Development Parents Alumni Give Fulfilling the promise of childhood since 1979. Creating a Caring Educational Community. The Child Educational Center is an innovative, nationally-accredited early care and education organization with a pioneering focus on progressive education and outdoor learning. The CEC’s programs have served as a leader in early childhood education since 1979, and emphasize a commitment to nurturing children’s physical and psychological well-being. The CEC follows the natural outdoor classroom philosophy in our care and education of young children. Researchers have established that to nurture the whole child, early childhood education needs to follow the fundamental principle that children are learning everywhere and all the time. Instead of developmentally-inappropriate early academics, children need a broad variety of learning experiences and opportunities to grow in areas such as gross and fine motor development, social-emotional development, language development, and creative expression. Mastery of the skills associated with these areas is critical for healthy development as well as later academic success, and requires an educational format that is very different from a traditional elementary classroom. The outdoor classroom evolves from the real needs of children, offers activities that are personally meaningful to them, and fully embraces developmentally-appropriate practices in early care. In 1994, the CEC began providing consulting services on the design, development and implementation of child care programs through our initiative, the Outdoor Classroom Project. Est.1979 The CEC was initially created in 1979 at the request of Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which sought an early childhood center to support parents and to provide high-quality care and education. Our Mission & Vision The CEC’s mission is to ignite joy, curiosity, and compassion through innovative children’s programs for all. In our caring and educational community: Children are valued, thrive, and reach their full potential as individuals and contributing members of society. The community and its members are enriched by the participation of each individual. There is a commitment to the realization of similar ideals throughout the world through educational outreach. Our values. Nurturing Of our children, families, and staff Innovation In our programs Openness Of our people and our processes Service To the broader community Integrity Of the individual & the institution Diversity Of people and ideas Excellence Of our care and programs Respect For all “This center is a magical, wonderful place. It changes people, their hearts, and their minds in ways that enrich us forever.” — Denise Alvarado, Master Lead Teacher since 1985 140 Foothill Blvd. La Cañada, CA 91011 T: (818) 354-3418 F: (818) 393-4243 cec@ceconline.org Our Mission Our Programs Contact Us Careers NOTICE OF NONDISCRIMINATORY POLICY AS TO STUDENTS: The Child Educational Center admits children of any race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to children in the program. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, tuition assistance programs, and other school-administered programs.