Early Education Center – Preschool & PreK Program (Downtown Children’s Center)

Early Education Center – Preschool & PreK Program (Downtown Children’s Center) includes kindergarten readiness, emergent curriculum, literacy activities, learning circle time, math activities, and social skills. Children take part in art, music, gardening and science activities, and both free and structured play. The program also includes exploratory play in a supervised setting.

• Ages: 2–5 years old
• Schedule: Open Monday–Friday, 8:00am to 4:00pm

The Downtown Children’s Center accepts children age two years until entering kindergarten. Daily activities include both free play and structured activities, and the curriculum supports growth in social, emotional, physical, and intellectual domains. The program uses an anti-bias curriculum, hires staff that reflect the race and culture of families, and involves parents in the development, implementation, and evaluation of programs. The staff support parents in their role as their child’s first and primary teacher and encourage parent involvement. The program refrains from any religious instruction and worship, and Early Education programs refrain from any religious instruction and worship.

All children receive two meals (breakfast and lunch) and a snack per day, free of charge regardless of eligibility status. Food is prepared on site in the program’s own kitchen by their cook, and meals and snacks are culturally and developmentally appropriate and meet federal CACFP nutritional requirements. Mealtime is used as a learning experience to talk about colors, textures, and names of foods and to practice skills and socialize. The program participates in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Child and Adult Food Program (CACFP).

Services are offered to eligible low-income families who need care for their child so they can seek employment, seek housing, work, go to school, or complete a training program. The program provides subsidized childcare through a grant from the California Department of Education and is funded or supported by the California Department of Education, Santa Cruz County CORE grant from the County of Santa Cruz, Workforce Santa Cruz County, City of Santa Cruz Children’s Fund, COE QRIS (Quality Counts) Funds, CACFP, Monterey Peninsula Foundation, Community Foundation of Santa Cruz, generous agency donors, and the Present Now program. Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center is a 501(c)3 public benefit organization, has been serving the Santa Cruz community for more than 85 years, was founded as the YWCA in 1933, was renamed in 1994 to Walnut Avenue Women’s Center, and updated its name and logo in 2015 to Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center. The mission of Walnut Avenue Family & Women’s Center is to end cycles of trauma, support lifelong learning, and promote healthy relationships with oneself and others.

Leadership for the organization includes Julie Macecevic (Executive Director), Lynn Boule (Director of Advocacy & Prevention), Lisa Schwarz (Operations Manager), Claudia Velazquez (Director of Early Education), Debbie Banuelos (Site Supervisor – Early Education), Llesenia Rocha-Fernandez (Human Resource Partner), Kath Adams (Fiscal Manager), Heather Heen (Director of Development), Amanda Coto (Advocacy & Prevention Coordinator), Marjorie Coffey (Advocate, Restorative Justice Program Coordinator), and Ashley Ponce (Housing & Employment Coordinator). The program is funded or supported by COE QRIS (Quality Counts) Funds.

Last updated March 25, 2026.