MISSION STATEMENT:
The mission of Gate City Day Nursery Association is to provide a quality, affordable, comprehensive early childhood program that meets the developmental and social-emotional needs of each child in our care. Our program strengthens families through protective factors and supportive services, while making opportunities available for parents to become actively involved in their child’s educational experience.
ABOUT US
The philosophy behind our program and curriculum is that young children learn best by doing. Learning requires active thinking and experimenting to find out how things work and to learn first-hand about the world we live in.
Overview
The Gate City Day Nursery Association is one of the most established names in early childhood education and family support in the Atlanta metropolitan region. Our high standard of excellence includes NAEYC accredited centers, degreed and certified lead teachers, and partnerships in the community with agencies such as Atlanta Public Schools Program for Exceptional Children, TLC-Transforming the Lives of Children, Jumpstart, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Inc., Atlanta Healthy Start and many more that ensure that our children get the very best early education Atlanta has to offer.
Since its inception in 1905, Gate City has served the needs of working families and continues that tradition today at its three early learning centers located in the heart of Atlanta. Our comprehensive approach to learning maximizes the child’s full potential. Our Strengthening Families Initiative provides a social network for families through center-based activities, parenting workshops, and parent resource libraries. Our family-based intervention is designed to help families improve functioning and achieve economic independence.
We operate our program full day, year round, with convenient hours to accommodate working parents. Our well qualified, nurturing staff offers a developmentally appropriate and safe learning environment for young children to gain the skills necessary for them to enter kindergarten prepared to learn. Other benefits from our program include: individualized learning experiences, rich social experiences, developmental and health screenings, nutritious meals and services to meet the special needs of children.
HISTORY
The Gate City Day Nursery Association was organized in 1905 for the purpose of providing and maintain a free kindergarten in Atlanta for African American children. A series of Atlanta University conferences studying African American home life, under the direction of Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, revealed the need for some type of agency to care for neglected children left home alone to play in the streets. Mothers working full time during the day were unable to meet the financial demand of private child care.
A group of prominent Atlanta University and City of Atlanta women met this challenge by forming the “Gate City Free Kindergarten”, the first kindergarten for African American children in Atlanta. Today there are three centers in Atlanta, providing services to all children regardless of their race, ethnicity, creed, gender, religion, or nation origin.
Community Partners
