The Jan and Niles Davies Learning Center

Helen Hayes Hospital's state-of-the-art childcare center, The Jan & Niles Davies Learning Center (TLC), serve the Hospital's employees as well as those in the local community on a space available basis.

Our Philosophy

The Center's philosophy is that of a developmental approach. We support physical, social-emotional, and intellectual growth through age appropriate activities. Children learn and grow in many ways. Our goal is to make this an exciting time of learning and discovery, which is unique and meaningful for each individual child.

The curriculum and teaching approach is based on the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) publication on developmentally appropriate practice as well as The Creative Curriculum. The Jan and Niles Davies Learning Center is committed to providing high quality early childhood programming.

The Jan and Niles Davies Learning Center is a not-for-profit corporation licensed by the New York State Office of Family and Childrens Services.

The Center

Our state-of-the-art 9,000 square foot childcare center provides an environment that is safe, nurturing, and developmentally stimulating in a serene and natural setting overlooking the Hudson River. Low teacher/child ratios assure individual attention and care.

Spacious outdoor play areas, including bike trails and kid-size gardens, are just a few of the amenities. Designed with a child’s comfort in mind, the building has radiant floor heating, child-friendly bathrooms, and large windows at a child’s eye level. In addition, the building features numerous Green/LEED building concepts, such as the use of rapidly renewable resources and recycled materials, energy-saving occupancy sensor lighting and high efficiency heating and cooling systems.

TLC is licensed to serve 145 children and has ten separate classrooms serving the needs of infants, toddlers, three's, and preschoolers. We also have a large central area with a small stage and an open area used for center-wide activities, celebrations, and indoor gross motor activities. Our snack and optional hot lunch menus are approved by a registered dietician and follow the guidelines set by the USDA Child & Adult Care Food Program.

Age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate materials are available in each room to encourage exploration and learning.

Our multi-purpose room is used for our half-day Universal Pre-Kindergarten program which follows the North Rockland Central School District Calendar. You can apply to this two and a half hour program through Child Care Resources of Rockland. All children turning four by December 1^st of a school year are eligible. For more information about enrolling in this free program call (845) 425 – 0009 or visit www.childcarerockland.org.

Our smaller building houses three classrooms serving children enrolled in half day Universal Pre-K with Wrap Around Care. Please call our center to inquire more about this program if your child is preschool aged.

The Classrooms

+ Infants

6 weeks to 18 months Ratio 1:4

We are committed to providing individualized care at low teacher/child ratios, which optimizes our ability to accommodate each child’s individual routine and daily schedule. While each caregiver gets to know each baby, each child is assigned to a primary caregiver who is responsible for knowing that child on a very intimate level. The Infant room is a shoeless environment and radiant heat rises from the floor.

Our active infant areas include soft spaces to crawl, climb, and explore. The sleeping area of the classroom is separated by a half-wall, allowing for undisturbed sleep yet providing constant sight and sound supervision to sleeping babies. The lights in the sleeping area may be dimmed for a peaceful, sleep friendly environment.

Our outside, separate infant playground provides a multi-surfaced area of both soft space, grass, and age appropriate climbing equipment which overlooks the Hudson River.

+ Toddlers

18 months to 3 years Ratio 1:5

Our toddler program also uses primary caregivers. This is to once again emphasize individual attention to daily care and to ease the transition from the infant class to toddlers. Daily routines become more structured in an environment that is developed to stimulate mobility and curiosity. Child-directed and teacher-directed activities are provided throughout the day.

+ Three’s

Ratio 1:7

The three-year-old class focuses much of the time on developing social/cognitive skills. This is accomplished in an environment that supports dramatic play. Children begin to follow simple directions, understand limits, take turns, share ideas, and begin to negotiate. Three year olds develop a curiosity of the world around them, which opens the door for more learning in the classroom. Self-help skills are encouraged to promote strong self-esteem.

+ Pre-School

Ratio 1:8

As the children move on to the pre-school class, they will continue to practice socialization and self-help skills. They begin to recognize letters and numbers. Early writing and reading skills are beginning and encouraged. Classroom activities are teacher-directed as well as child-directed. Teacher-directed activities allow for cognitive learning and child-directed activities allow for learning through play.

Outdoor Play

Fresh air is important for healthy children and our children are required to go outside daily, weather permitting. On our campus, each age group has a separate playground – infants, toddlers and preschoolers. Each group has access to their own playground just outside their classroom doors, with each providing the age appropriate climbing equipment and fall protection. We have another large area that has a bike trail, a children’s garden, and a covered area for outdoor play in inclement weather. Large fenced-in areas ensure the safety of your children, who can also enjoy walks on the beautiful HHH campus.