Pennie Z. Davis Early Learning Center
The ELC provides year-round care for children ages 6 weeks to 6 years, Monday through Fridays, from 7 am to 6 pm. We have full-time, part-time, and combination schedules available for children ages 18 months and older. We only offer full-time enrollment for infants 6 weeks to 18 months. Our learning environment emphasizes art, science, math, language/reading development, and music and movement every day in every classroom.
The JCC, as well as the ELC, values the health and safety of all our kids and caretakers. Our programs center on character development and value-driven programming with enrichment activities. We are licensed by the State of Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services and accredited through NAEYC* (National Association Education of Young Children).
Best of all, the ELC facility utilizes open living spaces, both small and large activity rooms, and large interactive kitchens for children and teachers to enjoy. It’s more than a school, it’s a home away from home.
Facility Highlights
- Quiet “sleep rooms” for babies
- Unique wet-play areas
- Kitchens equipped for children
- Art room
- Large, well-equipped playgrounds
- Access to JCC physical education areas, including the gym, pools and outdoor space
- Intergenerational experiences with the Rose Blumkin Jewish Home
- Learning Commons and access to the Jewish Federation Kripke Library collection
Accredited Learning Environment
The ELC has earned accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the world’s largest organization working on behalf of young children. NAEYC accreditation is a quality-improvement system that uses a set of 10 research-based standards to recognize and drive quality-improvement in high-quality early learning environments. NAEYC-accredited programs are always prepared for unannounced quality-assurance visits during their accreditation term, which lasts for five years.
Philosophy
We value education.
It is our philosophy that young children represent a unique segment of society with special needs and behaviors. Children’s relationships and experiences during their early years of life have a significant and crucial impact on their later growth and development. We believe that the importance of these formative years must not be underestimated. We are committed to the extreme importance of our role in your child’s total development. The daily environment must provide your child with all of the components necessary for his/her emotional, social, physical, and cognitive well being.
ELC Goals
- To continuously attend to the needs of each individual child by helping them feel safe, happy, and comfortable throughout the day.
- To develop in each child independence, confidence, and a feeling of self-worth as an individual and as a member of a group.
- To stimulate each child’s curiosity, sense of wonder, and motivation to learn about the world around them by establishing an age-appropriate, hands-on, and stimulating environment.
- To develop in children social responsibility by teaching goodwill towards others and respect for the environment.
- To give young children and their families a sense of Jewish identity and culture. To develop in children a love for music, art, and drama.
- To specifically develop in our children age-appropriate, cognitive, and physical skills in the following areas: language, listening, visual discrimination, large and small motor skills, writing, math, and science.