About
Santa Cruz Toddler Care Center offers an outdoor program that includes time in a toddler friendly garden, play on multiple climbing structures, and digging and building in a sandbox. Children also have access to a bike track and cozy corners in two large, developmentally appropriate yards that include a heated, covered patio, multiple shade and rain structures, and an outdoor campus that has been remodeled and re-landscaped to be extremely toddler-friendly. The program is RIE inspired and bases its philosophy and methods on the model of the Resources for Infant Educarers (RIE) program founded by Magda Gerber.
• Ages: 1–3 years old
• Schedule: Open Monday–Thursday 8:00am–4:00pm and Friday 8:00am–1:00pm, with options for M–F, T/Th, or MWF, full or half days
Santa Cruz Toddler Care Center serves children 12–36 months old whose parents must work, attend school, or participate in training programs. The program provides three organic vegetarian meals cooked onsite daily. The Toddler Care Center was established as a non-profit in 1976 by two working women who were concerned about the lack of quality care for very young children, and it holds CA License # 440706333. Co-Executive Director Nora Caruso is part of the leadership team. The center’s secondary purpose is to act as a model to other child care centers throughout the community, the state, and the nation, and it is described as a model program for childcare by professionals in the field. Educators and administrators from as far as New Zealand and Japan have visited the Toddler Care Center. The program notes that toddlers cannot socially distance but that they thrive outdoors.
Last updated March 25, 2026.
• Ages: 1–3 years old
• Schedule: Open Monday–Thursday 8:00am–4:00pm and Friday 8:00am–1:00pm, with options for M–F, T/Th, or MWF, full or half days
Santa Cruz Toddler Care Center serves children 12–36 months old whose parents must work, attend school, or participate in training programs. The program provides three organic vegetarian meals cooked onsite daily. The Toddler Care Center was established as a non-profit in 1976 by two working women who were concerned about the lack of quality care for very young children, and it holds CA License # 440706333. Co-Executive Director Nora Caruso is part of the leadership team. The center’s secondary purpose is to act as a model to other child care centers throughout the community, the state, and the nation, and it is described as a model program for childcare by professionals in the field. Educators and administrators from as far as New Zealand and Japan have visited the Toddler Care Center. The program notes that toddlers cannot socially distance but that they thrive outdoors.
Last updated March 25, 2026.
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