About Us
Who Are We?
| Philosophy | Mission
| The Seeds Difference |
Benefitting You and the Community | What
We Need
Who
Are We?
Seeds of Learning is a stand-alone, not for profit, early care and education facility,
located in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. We serve families of
preschool and toddler-aged children. As a Family Center, we
encompass childcare, parenting classes, and staff
in-services,
and as part of the Colorado Preschool Program, help children
who are considered at risk.
Mission
Our mission is to provide high quality early care and education to children ages 18 months through age 5, regardless of family structure or income.
Vision
Our vision is to instill in Seeds children a love of learning that makes them kindergarten ready with a bright future to not only obtain their high school diploma, but to go forward into higher education as well.
Philosophy
Quality early care and education not only includes excellent care, education and parent education, as well as health and safety, but a relationship between children and their families. We acknowledge the fact that children are unique and individual, come from their own culture, and deserve respect in regard to that culture. We can truly prove our love for children and their families by respecting their culture.
The Seeds of Learning philosophy encompasses high quality early care and education, the Incredible Years Dinosaur School (problem solving and conflict resolution for children), Creative Curriculum curricula offered to all children, the Incredible Years Parenting class, as well as any other topic brought forth by families. It is our wish to work closely with parents to meet the social, emotional, physical and cognitive needs of each child, thereby promoting the child’s self-awareness and self-confidence. We partner with families so they feelrespected, supported and nurtured in their child rearing efforts.
Warm, supportive and respectful relationships between adults and children lie at the heart of good care for children. We believe early care and education centers can and must be a place where children, parents and caregivers alike can feel a sense of belonging, as if they are family. Healthy children and healthy families make healthy communities.
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What distinguishes
Seeds of Learning from other child care centers?
Seeds of Learning is a quality Early Childhood Education Center.
For more information on what it means to be an Early Childhood
Education Center, visit the website for National
Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
- Families are enrolled without regard to income, race,
religion, ethnicity, or ability.
- Over half of the families enrolled meet the poverty guidelines
for Archuleta County.
- It is the only early care and education center serving
toddlers.
- It is a placement site for the Pagosa Springs High School
Corporate Apprentice Program.
- It offers the Colorado Preschool Program funded by the
Colorado Dept. of Education.
- It collaborates with the Pagosa Springs Alternative School,
BOCS, and San Juan Basin Health
Why are Early Childhood Education Centers
important?
Community governments across the country are making a commitment
to early childhood care and education because the safety,
quality, affordability, and accessibility of early childhood
care and education impacts the future.
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How
do we benefit the Community?
Children are the future of our community. Studies show
that children who participate in early childhood education
programs perform better in school, in adult careers, and later
evolve into future community leaders. This provides a better
economic base for our community, and produces economic and
social benefits with lasting effects, such as:
- lower unemployment
- reduced reliance on social and welfare services
- lower crime rates
- less delinquent behavior in children
Having a certified quality early childhood facility attracts
businesses to our community, thus supplying a greater job
base and raising the standard of living.
How can we benefit YOU?
By contributing to Seeds of Learning you can become
part of Pagosa’s future and save money at the same time.
In addition to Seeds of Learning being a 501(c)3 organization
(thus qualifying it as a tax-exempt organization) it also
qualifies for the Colorado Child Contribution Credit. This
means that HALF of your donation can be credited toward
your Colorado Income tax – up to $100,000 per year.
Your federal income tax credit may also be as high
as 35%, depending on your tax bracket. This means that you
may actually save money by giving to Seeds of Learning!
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What do we need?
It is the vision of Seeds of Learning to become the
first fully accredited early childhood education center in
Archuleta County. All the accreditation requirements for staff
and programming have been met. The last remaining barrier
was procurring an adequate facility. Now that we have done that, we look forward to accomplishing our goal.
By its very nature, an early care
and education center cannot survive without community support.
Currently, we charge only 1/2 of the actual per day cost for children in the center. The remainder of our needs are met by individual donations and grants from local entities and the front range. Be a part of the solution.
Make a quick and easy online donation with PayPal.
Note: You do not need a PayPal account to use this feature.
Learn how to make your mail-in contribution
here.
Please contact Lynne Bridges (970-264-5513) for further information.
Download the
Summary Profile in PDF format.
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