Ossining Childrens Center, Inc.

Over 120 years ago, the Women's Association of St. Paul's Episcopal Church pioneered a new concept in community service: a home-away-from-home for the children of Ossining's widowed immigrant mothers who needed to work to support their families. At the time, the concept of a day care or nursery was being pioneered in New York City. . Originally founded as the Christ Child Day Nursery and Bethany Home, we were one of the first day care centers in the United States. Since our founding, we have viewed child care from an educational perspective, and have made it our mission to educate the "whole child" as an emotional, social, physical and intellectual being; at the same time, we provide loving, home-like care. The Center is open year-round, Monday through Friday, 7 am to 6 pm. We have three distinct, developmentally appropriate programs: (1) Our Infant and Toddler Program for children 8 weeks through 2 years; (2) our Preschool Program, for three and four year olds. Our Preschool includes a collaborative prekindergarten program with the Ossining Public Schools, i.e. we provide two sections of the School District's full day Universal Pre-K program in our home-like setting. Universal Pre-K is tuition-free for residents of the Ossining School District. (3) Our Before and After School Enrichment Program for ages 4 through 12; this program offers full days of enrichment on school holidays and vacations. During the summer, this program becomes a Summer Day Camp.