60 Years of Learning and Growth
For over 60 years, The West Chester Area Day Care Center has been a leader in providing children with a safe, nurturing childcare environment combined with a top-quality early education program. The Center is a partner agency of the United Way of Chester County.
The Center opened its doors in 1962 in space leased from the Chestnut Street Friends with five children, a social worker/director, three teachers, a cook, a janitor, and many dedicated volunteers. As more and more families learned about the Center, word spread through the community about the quality care and education it provided.
To accommodate the increased number of children, the Center moved to larger quarters in 1969 to its current location on Nields Street. The land for the building was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Fred Wood, and an aggressive building campaign raised the funds needed to construct a specially designed home for the Center.
Our staff includes:
Our Mission
The West Chester Area Day Care Center is a non-profit childcare program that promotes the development of children emotionally, socially, intellectually, and physically in a safe and nurturing environment. We offer all parents affordable childcare with special emphasis on those with the greatest financial need.
Building a Strong Educational Foundation for All
We focus our enrollment on low-income families in Chester County, including many families from shelters. We do this by not imposing any cap for the number of children on subsidies, not charging the difference between what we are reimbursed and our own rate as many private centers do, offering scholarships to families in financial crisis, and by keeping our rates low for those not yet accepted for subsidized care.
We emphasize quality care for the entire low-income population because these families are more susceptible to substandard services. Therefore, we strive not to let that trend continue. Families in need or in financial crisis are our highest priorities.
Our organization provides a solid, early educational foundation for children by implementing a developmentally appropriate curriculum for children aged six weeks through kindergarten, which operates year-round from 6:30 am-5:30 pm. We also care for school-age children from kindergarten age through twelve years old for before and after school, on half days, and days off from school. We also provide care full-time during the summer. We are a bus stop for East Goshen, Westtown-Thornbury, and Collegium.
We address the nutritional needs of every child in our care during these crucial years of early development by providing free, nutritionally balanced breakfast, lunch, and snacks, including formula for our infants. Every single child eats for free and eats well.
We work closely with all early intervention programs to help meet the specific needs some of our children require. These teams work on the premises and with our teachers and families to ensure every child is getting their developmental needs met. We also work with Delaware County Community College (Early Childhood Education program) and West Chester University as a field placement for students in the Departments of Early and Middle Grades Education, Psychology, and Nursing, illustrating our dedication to better train people in careers that will work with children.
Our multicultural center employs experienced, educated teachers with an extremely low turnover rate. We’re proud to be a Keystone Star 4 center! This means we have gone above and beyond licensing requirements and are providing a very high-quality program for the families we serve. We provide all children, especially those at risk, with the early educational foundation needed for building their future learning and increasing their potential for success in school.
We make a difference in children’s lives!
Meet Our Team
We have a wonderful staff, many of whom have been with us for more than 10 years. We couldn't do it without them!
Our Board
Our Board is comprised of people who know our organization and people who care about our mission.
Alumni and In Memoriam
We've had the chance to work with countless incredible people in the 60 years since we opened.
Annual Reports
We believe transparency is important, which is why we give you access to our Annual reports.
Contact Us
Have questions, or need something from us? We want to hear from you!
Support Us
We couldn't do it without your support, whether that's volunteering or donating. Help us out today!
Join Our Supportive Community
For 61 years, we have been a leader in providing children with a safe, nurturing childcare environment combined with a top-quality early education program, but we would be nothing without our community.
