PACCC's Whole-Child Approach

At PACCC, we believe in a whole-child approach to early education and care and have delivered on our promise to be a community where children thrive, educators are valued, and families are supported for more than 50 years!
Specifically, PACCC aligns with partners and programs like DRDP and Learning Foundations that support this vision with unwavering dedication and determination. Why? Because early education and care encompass so much more than mere “babysitting,” a stigma often associated with infant-toddler, preschool, and TK. PACCC’s exceptional early education curriculum and whole-child care approach help create Palo Alto’s future through its most precious asset – the children.

In partnership with the California Department of Education, PACCC is continuing its work as an early adopter of the revised Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP) program and Learning Foundations (LFs), which closely aligns with our vision and mission statement. Designed by the State of California and funded by the California Department of Social Services, DRDP is a “developmental continuum from infancy through grade three that is designed to assess the progression of skills across multiple domains of learning.” The DRDP directly aligns with California’s Learning Foundations. Together, they are used to plan curriculum, inform instruction, and document developmental milestones.

As defined in our Strategic Plan, we are “committed to providing comprehensive, enriching, play-based programming that stimulates curiosity, creativity, and exploration. By embracing research-based practices, we ensure that our programs support children's cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development.”

PACCC's Learning Domains

PACCC’s learning domains provide an efficient and intuitive way for educators to create and manage curriculum, and to observe and assess the children as they accomplish milestones within each domain. As the children naturally learn, play, and grow, so do their futures – in Palo Alto, and beyond.

Here, we depict through colorful stories, how children might progress throughout the Learning Domains:

- Approaches to Learning
- Social & Emotional Development
- Language & Literacy Development
- Health
- Physical Development
- Math
- Science

Join us here, and in our monthly newsletter for more fun, play-based stories illustrating PACCC’s Learning Domains and Whole-Child Approach. Learn more about what to expect as your child progresses from infancy through grade three! Let’s hit those milestones together!

Learning, playing, and growing together has never been more fun – or more important!