Welcome Message  

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the Child Development Center, operated by Irvine Valley College. We are glad that you have chosen our Center and look forward to an exciting year of growth and development for your child within an environment that is both warm and supportive.  Our staff is very experienced and comfortable with children that do not have English as their first language.  In addition to providing quality childcare we are also the Irvine Valley College on-site lab school which provides training for students enrolled in the Early Childhood Education Program.  This makes us a state of the art learning Center!

We accept our role of providing a strong, developmental program for your child, and we realize that your child will spend a great deal of time with us.  However, as parents, you remain the primary influence in your child's life, and we believe that only by working closely as a team can we provide the very best education for your child.

Children need a great deal of support in dealing with new situations. No matter how comfortable they appear and no matter how old they are, getting used to new faces, new rooms and new routines takes time. We as adults, don't walk into strange situations and feel comfortable; neither do children.  Trust comes gradually.  To facilitate this process of building trust, we ask that you together with your child have two (short) visits, one in the morning and one in the afternoon before the first day of school.   Your visits ahead of time can make the difference between feeling a sense of trust and confidence versus mistrust and insecurity.

We ask that you say a brief goodbye to your child and reassure them that you will be back later to pick him or her up.   Please feel free to check back with us by phone at any time to see how your child is doing.  As a parent, you are always welcome to simply peek in the observation room and observe your child.

I would like to welcome you to the Irvine Valley College's Child Development Center!  Thank you for trusting us with your child.

Sincerely,

Becky L. Thomas,
Director

Key words: Childcare child care preschool quality Day Care teachers academic school education child care children pre school