Childrens
Center
St. James's Children's Center is a culturally
and academically diverse pre-school / daycare, serving as
a model program for the Richmond community.
The mission is to celebrate the uniqueness of every child.
To accomplish this mission, the Children’s Center provides
a loving environment for all children, including those who
are ‘at risk’ and those with special needs; teaches
to respect the differences, strengths and weaknesses in each
other; provides an enriching and academically competitive
pre-school and after-school education for all of its children;
as well as maintain a challenging program of educational excellence.
 The
structured program, facilitated by a very low teacher-to-student
ratio, adopts the very important ‘kinetic learning style’
by incorporating hands-on experiences with special projects
to develop children’s logic skills. By acknowledging
the children’s varied learning requirements, the Children’s
Center uses a curriculum which focuses on exposing the children
to a variety of activities and experiences they otherwise
would not have the opportunity to engage in through trips
to museums, cultural institutions, parks and other activities
as an integral educational tool.
The school, including the nine-week summer program, is a
501c3 non-profit organization. In addition, the school is
accredited through National Association of Educators for Young
Children.
 The
50 children attending the program each year are from the metropolitan
Richmond community from low-to-middle income families. Approximately
30% of the children exhibit some type of ‘special needs,
such as identified as ‘at-risk’ and/or indicating
learning, physical, social and emotional challenges. The program
is noted for taking children that other programs have difficulty
with. Owing to its low teacher-to-child ratio and structured
environment, the program is able to help these children focus
on learning and understanding the connection to the world
around them and its relationship to literacy, math and science
disciplines.
This program also offers to families of special populations of children an understanding that, even though the children have challenges, they also have untold opportunities for a successful life ahead.
If you have any questions about the school, please call Geraldine Johnson, School Director at 358-9788. If you have an interest in supporting the school, please call Cynthia Roe Brown, Director of Development at 467-8227.
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