Philosophy

Preschool and kindergarten are places where children observe and experiment in order to make sense of their world, where they begin to build relationships and become members of a larger community. We have created a developmentally sound curriculum based on what we know about how children learn.

Calvin Hill Day Care Center and Kitty Lustman-Findling Kindergarten aim to serve as a support for whole families, working in partnership with parents to help meet the emotional, social, physical and intellectual needs of their children. Children are helped to deal with their own and others' feelings as well as to become members of the larger community of the Center.

We believe that children learn best when they are actively engaged in their own play and work. Carefully planned small group and individual activities in art, cooking, music, woodworking, story-telling, literacy, movement, math and science are the vehicles for providing such experiences. The curriculum is rich in opportunities to explore, create, and learn.

Parents and teachers from a variety of national, ethnic, and economic backgrounds share concerns, support children’s learning, and join together to help ease some of the burdens of working families.

History

Housed in a converted firehouse, the Calvin Hill Day Care Center and Kitty Lustman-Findling Kindergarten are private, nonprofit, early childhood educational programs for children of students, employees, and faculty of Yale University, as well as for community families.

The day care was founded in 1970 by undergraduates and named for former Yale football star Calvin Hill. The goal of these students was to make a quality child-care program available to and affordable for University families from all economic levels.

An all-day kindergarten was opened on the second floor in 1983. Named for early childhood teacher, consultant, founder, and longtime friend of the Center Kitty Lustman-Findling, the kindergarten program provides continuity of care in a rich and stimulating environment.

The Center also operates a smaller and more intimate program for young three year olds, where the needs of the community’s youngest children are nurtured.

All three programs provide child care at a reduced cost to many families who are unable to afford the full fee.