First Presbyterian Church Children's Center

 A Place for Children to...

• Learn
• Work
• Play
• Develop as a whole child
• Become involved in the lives of young children
• Form friendships
• Be herself/himself

For infants, toddlers, preschoolers (6 weeks–Age 5)

• Year-round care
• Monday–Friday, 7:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.
• Qualified, nurturing, experienced staff
• Developmentally appropriate curriculum
• Lunch and snacks
• Weekly music enrichment class
• Weekly chapel service
• Field trips
• Special summer activities

First Presbyterian Church Children's Center, licensed by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, provides a variety of developmentally appropriate activities that emphasize concrete experiential learning in order to achieve the following goals:

• Foster positive self-concept
• Develop social skills
• Encourage children to think, reason, question and experiment
• Encourage language development
• Encourage and demonstrate sound health, safety and nutritional practices.
• Enhance physical development and skills
• Encourage creative expression and appreciation for the arts
• Respect cultural diversity of children, families and staff
• Promote early spiritual development of children with foundations based on trust, concern for and acceptance of others

Our Philosophy

We believe each child is a unique individual and that children are happy and secure when they have plenty of opportunities to succeed each day.

Success breeds self-confidence. Self-confident children approach learning as fun and then actively search for information and solutions to problems.

We believe that the process of learning is as important as the content of learning. Because we focus on process learning, our activities are designed to emphasize the experiences children are having rather than the results from activities.

We believe parents are the most significant adults in a child’s life, and we do everything possible to insure parental involvement with our program.

Curriculum

The daily program provides for a variety of experiences, levels of difficulty and individual pacing. There is a balance of quiet/active, large/small muscle, child/staff initiated and large/small group activities. Learning center activities include: dramatic play, blocks, manipulatives, music, art, library, science, math, computers and other experiences throughout each day.

To help children reach their maximum potential, the center’s program uses authentic assessment in the planning of individualized experiences based on early learning standards for content areas, such as literacy, math, science, and social studies.

Birth-to-three standards and benchmarks for early learning include the areas of communication, cognitive, social-emotional, creative expression, and motor development.
 

Accreditation/Standards

The FPC Children’s Center is accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs (a division of NAEYC). Accrediation represents the consensus of early childhood professionals regarding the definition of high-quality programs for young children.

The program adheres to the Minimum Standard Rules for Child Care Centers and is licensed by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.

The school is also certified as a “Texas School Ready” Program. This certification assures families that the school has the educational components in place to prepare their children to succeed.

Program Director

Sandy Blanco has been involved in early childhood education since 1976. She has an M.A. in Education with a major in Early Childhood. Sandy has had many varied experiences in the field including: an administrator, classroom teacher (certified to teach), consultant for the City of San Antonio, parent educator, multicultural coordinator, teacher trainer and validator for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Sandy has presented at state, local and national conferences and is an adjunct faculty at San Antonio College. Mrs. Blanco is the recipient of the Hazel Miller Teacher of the Year Award and the University of the Incarnate Word Excellence in Leadership Award. She also served on the Council for NAEYC Accreditation in Washington, D.C.

Staff

All teachers employed by the Children’s Center are selected on the basis of their education, experience in early childhood, rapport with children and the ability to implement the curriculum and philosophy of the program. The staff receive extensive training at local, state and national conferences. Additionally, all teachers are certified in first aid and CPR.

If you would like more information about fees and enrollment, please call Sandy Blanco, Director, at 210.225.0960.

First Presbyterian Church Children’s Center is an equal-opportunity institution.