Growing Place is committed to providing the young children of working families with an exceptional quality, all-day, year-round early education program. We are a learning community sustained by a close collaboration of parents, teachers, and students. We believe that children are competent learners, capable of engaging fully with ideas and the world around them. We are committed to hiring, developing and supporting the best teaching staff possible. Teachers and children research and co-construct knowledge and foster curiosity, experimentation and the expression of ideas. Teachers use documentation of the process of learning to revisit the children’s ideas and to include parents in the life of the school. Through the continuing evolution and enrichment of Growing Place sites, we acknowledge the role of the environment in children’s development. Growing Place believes that education should focus on each child in relation to a community of others, rather than each child in isolation. Our curriculum emphasizes the development of children’s social skills, including building friendships, respect for others, conflict resolution and advocating for one’s needs and ideas. Our goal is to promote self-esteem and problem-solving abilities, which helps children gain the confidence to face new experiences. We value diversity as reflected in our tuition assistance program, curriculum and the tools our children learn to use to address each other’s differences. The Growing Place helps children develop a positive disposition toward learning, which provides a foundation for academic success. Through collaboration with other schools, agencies, and an extensive mentoring program for students of child development, we support the field of early education and our community.