Get your child ready for kindergarten! Our early childhood programs help children develop a greater sense of self, a respect for others, and a deep love of learning. We also work with families to engage them as active partners in their children’s development.

Our work begins in our home-based program with expectant parents, infants, and young toddlers. We stimulate social-emotional learning and motor skills through weekly home visits and bimonthly play groups.

All Children's Aid early childhood programs are licensed by the New York City Department of Health.

Children ages 2 to 5 years old are eligible for our center-based programs. Children continue in the preschool classroom setting until they turn 5 years old and are ready to transition to kindergarten.

Our high-quality model is based on an effective research-based curriculum.

Our classrooms are open year-round and are staffed with qualified and licensed educators who receive intensive training focused on supporting children's school readiness goals.

A few additional benefits that we offer are low student-to-teacher ratios; nutritious meals; and targeted, hands-on, comprehensive support for families.

We have nine early childhood preschool locations across New York City!

Scroll down to find the school nearest you, and take a virtual tour to see what it is like inside our program!

Academic readiness and excellence begin before birth.  

Our work begins in the home with expectant parents, infants, and young toddlers. We stimulate social-emotional learning and motor skills through weekly home visits and play groups. From before our children take their first steps at home until the day they walk into our early childhood classrooms, our staff provides support that will positively impact our children and families so that they are ready to be healthy, lifelong learners.

Children's Aid early childhood programs nurture and serve more than 1,000 children (ages 0-5) and their families during the most critical stages of childhood development.

Every Step of the Way

At every age and stage of a child's development, our programs and services support the following four domains:

Education – We help children develop a deep love of learning, our high-quality model is based on an effective research-based curriculum, low student-to-teacher ratios, and intentional professional development for staff;

Social Emotional – We help children develop a greater sense of self and respect for self and others;

Family and Home – We provide support for children to thrive in safe, supportive homes by connecting families with the tools and resources they need to strengthen their families, achieve their goals and advocate for themselves and their communities;

Health – We promote health and wellness through medical and dental care, nutrition, fitness and recreation, and all aspects of behavioral wellness.

Each family that enrolls in our program will be supported by a family advocate from the early childhood team. The family advocate will partner with the family on short and long-term goals the family has. This can be anything from securing resources regarding immediate needs, such as food, clothing, and baby supplies, to bigger goals such as applying for new employment or a new degree, etc.

Our family advocates are an inclusive part of our community and communicate with our families with warmth, empathy and a commitment to making sure our families have the services and resources they need to succeed.

We partner with organizations across New York to ensure our families are connected to all the resources that will help them strengthen their networks and thrive.

Food: Food insecurity can be a big stress for some of our families, so we partner with the West Side Campaign Against Hunger (WSCAH) for families to get access to their incredible pantry once a month. Our Children’s Aid Go!Healthy division  provides Health Bucks to our preschools for families to use at farmers markets, getting fruit and vegetables into their homes.

Oral Health: Our partnership with the NYU Pediatric Dental School and Smile! bring dental students and faculty into our preschools so that the children who need dental screens can have them done and receive referrals for any further dental care they may require to stay healthy.

Fire Safety: Each year we collaborate with the Fire Department of NY (FDNY) to ensure our families have safety plans for their homes should an emergency occur. We work with the FDNY to help families with installation of smoke alarms in their homes. We also have firefighters visit our preschools to talk to the children about staying safe in a fire.

Community Safety: Our families’ safety in their community is important to us, and creating a relationship with each preschool’s nearest police department precinct is integral to that. We invite Neighborhood Coordinating Officers to our preschools to meet with families to discuss current neighborhood safety issues. They also connect with the children in their classrooms about how to call 911 and what to do in case of getting lost.

Family Education & Employment: We partner with the following organizations to help our families further their language, education, job and career goals:

• Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation (NMIC)
• Washington Heights Inwood Development Corporation (WHIDC)
• Workforce 1
• Hot Bread Kitchen
• Grace Institute

Books & Early Literacy: Each of our preschools work closely with their local library branch to have visits from librarians to our classrooms to encourage love of books and early literacy with our children.

We bring early childhood book writers and illustrators to our schools for our annual ‘Reading on the Rug’ series to read from their work to the children. This allows children to meet storytellers and artists who are part of their community and who write about their world.

Here are some resources for families about our program!

• Early Childhood Program & Family Contract: Code of Conduct (English/Spanish)
• Early Childhood Program: Family Manual (English/Spanish)