St. Vincent Early Learning Center, Inc.

Through high quality early learning, St. Vincent hopes to accomplish positive impact in child outcomes. Children should see growth in foundational skills such as, social-emotional, physical development, language, literacy, cognitive development, and mathematics. Curriculum is intentional, new projects are built using best practices from distinguished universities, and the program is continually improved, all with systemic change in mind. St. Vincent Early Learning Center hopes to become a national thought and implementation leader in the field of Early Childhood Education, offering successes to external leaders and providers.

Our philosophy of education includes six core values, which guide our experiences and processes.

100 Languages of The Child - Children have many ways to think, communicate, and learn. We emphasize giving children endless ways to express their ideas, thoughts, understanding, and knowledge.

An Emergent Learning Process - Play-based and inquiry-based learning is focused on children's interests - engaging and challenging them to make sense of the world. Play is used to maximize their potential in all areas of development, and through exploration of materials they build knowledge and understanding.

The Role of Families - A strong school-home connection inspires children to think deeply about the world and their own interests. We value families as their child's first teacher and encourage their active participation in our program.

The Role of the Environment - Environment plays an integral role as a "Third Teacher." It sparks children's exploration and curiosity. Mindful use of space, color, and light along with enriching materials help to promote deeper thinking skills and learning.

The Role of Educators - Children and educators are partners in learning. Educators seek to understand children's thinking and and provoke their ideas. They listen and pose questions to encourage children to test theories, justify reasoning, and assist in developing plans.

Documentation - Together educators and early learners communicate and present their journeys through documentation. Educators honor and value children's ideas through observation, documentation (photographs, writing, art, portfolios, video), and reflection. Educators are present to assist children in expressing what they have learned.

While high quality early education is our overall goal at St. Vincent Early Learning Center, a significant investment of time and resources are focused on operational infrastructure, in functions such as Human Resources, Finance, and Strategic Planning. Enriching early experiences simply cannot happen without nurturing and positive relationships, therefore St. Vincent utilizes innovative business strategies to recruit highly qualified, credentialed educators and to retain our talent. St. Vincent Early Learning Center is proud to be a national leader in the area of compensation parity, which includes not only base compensation, but benefit packages, wellness, and intentional professional development.