Early Childhood Education at UC Merced

In 2009, UC Merced proudly opened its Early Childhood Education Center, or ECEC [1]. The ECEC offers a warm, interesting, nurturing and developmentally appropriate place for children can explore and grow.

Goals for the ECEC

The center aims to give children the best possible early childhood care and education experience by:

Providing a warm, interesting, nurturing and developmentally appropriate place where each child can explore and grow.
Creating a welcoming environment with homelike touches for children and families.
Partering with families to ensure continual communication between home and the center.
Incorporating outdoor physical movement and the exploration of nature daily for all ages.
Employing highly qualified staff to teach and care for the children.

Eligibility

Children of faculty, staff and students at UC Merced as well as members of the Merced area community between the ages of six weeks and kindergarten are eligible to attend the ECEC. Priority is given to UC Merced-afilliated families. The ECEC has two classes for each age group listed below:

Infant — 6 weeks – 17 months
Toddler — 18-29 months
Pre-K — 30 months – Kindergarten entry

Hours of Operation

Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Location

At the front of the campus next to North Lake Road, between Scholars Lane and Ranchers Road.

Contact Information