Early Learning Centers
ECS operates early learning centers offering full-day, high-quality early education for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years, including Florida’s Voluntary Prekindergarten (VPK) program.
Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R)
This program provides valuable information to parents about a wide range of child care providers, including school-based care, church-affiliated programs, special-needs care, weekend care, before- and after-school programs, and summer camps.
Regional Training Institute
The Regional Training Institute provides professional development training for early childhood educators, preparing caregivers for mandatory state credentialing as Child Development Associates (CDA). Learning events occur in person, virtually on platforms such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams, or online on Canvas LMS. For more information, please visit the training page!
School Readiness
Episcopal Children’s Services serves as the School Readiness services provider for six counties in Northeast Florida. This unified regional approach results in better starts for children and ensures that they are eager to learn and ready to succeed when they enter kindergarten.
Voluntary Prekindergarten
When the state-mandated VPK program began in 2005, Episcopal Children’s Services organized the start-up and registration of children and providers in five counties. Our efforts resulted in enrollment of 83 providers and over 1,800 children for the 2005 – 2006 school year. ECS has continued to be a leader in VPK and now serves over 5,000 VPK students every year.
Head Start/Early Head Start
Head Start/Early Head Start is a free program that provides comprehensive early learning services to children from low-income families. Episcopal Children’s Services operates 30 Head Start/Early Head Start centers in Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Dixie, Duval, Gilchrist, Lake, Levy, Marion, and Nassau Counties, serving pregnant women and children from birth through age 5. A home-based Early Head Start program option is also available in those counties.
Nutrition Program
Episcopal Children’s Services ensures that children at its 33 child care centers and Head Start/Early Head Start sites in Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Citrus, Clay, Dixie, Duval, Gilchrist, Lake, Levy, Marion, and Nassau Counties receive two nutritionally balanced meals and one snack each day in their child care environment.
In accordance with federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex (including gender identity and sexual orientation), disability, age, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.
Program information may be made available in languages other than English. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication to obtain program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language), should contact the responsible state or local agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339.
To file a program discrimination complaint, a Complainant should complete a Form AD-3027, USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form which can be obtained online at: https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/USDA-OASCR%20P-Complaint-Form-0508-0002-508-11-28-17Fax2Mail.pdf, from any USDA office, by calling (866) 632-9992, or by writing a letter addressed to USDA. The letter must contain the complainant’s name, address, telephone number, and a written description of the alleged discriminatory action in sufficient detail to inform the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights (ASCR) about the nature and date of an alleged civil rights violation. The completed AD-3027 form or letter must be submitted to USDA by:
- mail:
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; or - fax:
(833) 256-1665 or (202) 690-7442; or - email:
program.intake@usda.gov
This institution is an equal opportunity provider.
CoachJax!
CoachJAX is a specialized team of 16, including 12 Early Learning Specialists, who work with private providers in Duval County. The goal of CoachJAX is to improve the quality of teacher/child interactions, learning environments, and school readiness for children in the community. CoachJAX works within the Workforce Development Grant in partnership with the Early Learning Coalition of Duval and the Kids Hope Alliance.
