Early Childhood Development

Building Brighter Futures

Parents entrust their infants, toddlers, and preschoolers into our care during the critical early development stages. Preparing your children to enter school with the necessary social, emotional, and cognitive skills is one of our top priorities.

At the YMCA, infants, and toddlers develop trust and security, and preschoolers experience early literacy and learn about their world. Children thrive in a caring, nurturing, and learning atmosphere.

Our YMCA provides quality early childhood development in a safe learning environment at our Child Development Centers. Depending on location, our centers serve families with children from 6 weeks to 12 years of age.

Ages

0-12

The YMCA offers programs for children ages 5 weeks to 12 years, depending on location.

Participants

250+

Last year we served over 250 children in our Child Development Centers.

Locations

Our Child Development Centers can be found throughout the Portland and Vancouver Metro Areas.

Early Childhood Development

Infants

In our infant classrooms, your baby will be in a safe environment with caring staff who will invest in helping your child develop important physical and emotional skills.

Location Offerings:

Bybee Lakes Hope Center (for program participants only)
The Playground at Providence St. Vincent
Providence Portland

Toddlers

Our toddler classrooms and curriculum are designed to encourage young learners to explore and play with confidence, all while developing deeper language and social emotional skills.

Location Offerings:

Bybee Lakes Hope Center (for program participants only)
The Playground at Providence St. Vincent
Portland Providence

Preschool

Our preschool classrooms provide a structured environment where children can learn, discover, and innovate cooperatively in preparation for their transition to kindergarten.

Location Offerings:

Bybee Lakes Hope Center (for program participants only)
Springfield Meadows Child Development Center
The Playground at Providence St. Vincent
Providence Portland

School Age

After School programming may be offered at your Child Development Center for certain local schools with transportation provided by the school district. Please contact the center directly for more information.

Location Offerings:

Springfield Meadows Child Development Center

Important Information

Employment Related Day Care (OR) and Working Connections Child Care (WA) are subsidy programs that help low-income, working families access affordable child care by funding all or a portion of tuition costs. All of the YMCA's Early Childhood Development programs are approved providers who can accept these funding sources. These programs are operated through the Department of Human Services (OR) and the Department of Social and Health Services (WA). If approved, individuals will need to connect their accounts through the state with the location they are registered for using the provider numbers listed below.

Apply for these programs online:

Provider Numbers by Location:

KKD 00016 - Beaverton Youth Development Center
IKD 00016 - Bybee Lakes Hope Center
VRZ 00007 - Clackamas Child Development Center
TSZ 00008 - The Playground at St. Vincent
DQM 00009 - Southeast Child Development Center
480377 - Springfield Meadows Child Development Center

All of our Child Development Centers are licensed by the state of Oregon or Washington and maintain all licensing guidelines. To learn about licensed child care programs, including rules and staff qualifications, visit the pages below:

Oregon Licensing Information

Washington Licensing Information

Members at our any of our YMCA locations receive at least a 15% discount at all of our child care programs, including Early Childhood Development. Depending on location, members may also receive early registration benefits.

Our Early Childhood Development programs utilize Creative Curriculum to support your child's learning in the classroom. Creative curriculum is the most widely used preschool curriculum in the country. This curriculum uses a whole child approach with individualized instruction based on development, focusing on project based, investigative learning.