North Bay Children Center’s Mission

NBCC is a Passionate Community

North Bay Children’s Center believes all children deserve equal opportunity for future success. Our programs provide children with optimal growth and development.

NBCC's Garden of Eatin’®

Using culturally-rich programs, our Garden of Eatin’ nutrition educational curriculum and strong family, school and community partnerships, NBCC prepares children socially, emotionally and academically for school and life’s success

NBCC serves 600+ families in the North Bay

NBCC’s main campus is headquartered in Novato, California with center & program satellites in Healdsburg, Novato, Petaluma, Santa Rosa and Sonoma.

NBCC Responds

As a leader in early care and education, NBCC is positioned to respond to two of the most pressing needs of children and families in the communities we serve; closing the educational achievement gap and combating childhood obesity.

“It is NBCC’s mission to ensure that all children and families, regardless of race, socio-economic standing, and/or resource, are provided with an equal opportunity for early education, and in turn, long term success. We are committed to providing an anti-bias environment and curriculum that supports children and their families as they develop a sense of identity in a diverse society.”

~ Susan Gilmore, NBCC President & CEO

Long term benefits of high quality early care and early education

One of the greatest challenges faced in this era of disparity is the widening gap between children growing up in strong, economically secure families—within thriving communities—and children who are not. As our nation’s education achievement gap grows, so does universal recognition of the importance of high quality early care and education.

Our economic future depends on providing the tools for upward mobility and building a highly educated, skilled workforce. Early childhood education is the most efficient way to accomplish these goals yet so many children are being left out of this system.

At North Bay Children Center, our mission is to ensure that all children, especially our most vulnerable, have access to those critical early learning experiences that build the foundation for life-long success. For nearly three decades, our programs have provided safety net services for thousands of families struggling to provide the best start for their children.

NBCC was one of the first early childhood education providers to recognize that nutrition education has a place in the daily curriculum of a child care environment. NBCC’s award winning Garden of Eatin’® program is creating awareness among children that learning about what you eat is as important as knowing one’s letters and numbers. By providing high-quality early education that integrates health, nutrition, and family support into our daily curriculum NBCC has proven its ability to significantly improve the outcomes for so many disadvantaged children.

Our alignment with elementary school partners has enabled NBCC to more than double the number of children served in our classrooms over the past five years. Thanks to creative community partnerships and local private and public sector investments in our early education system, NBCC increased its capacity again this past year and is now serving 600 children on a daily basis across 14 locations.

We have always been anchored with a clear purpose and commitment to the communities we serve. We know that building a solid preschool foundation is essential for our community and for our children’s future success. But we can’t do it alone. We invite you to learn more about how you can make a difference and together we can turn Marin and Sonoma’s education achievement gap into an education achievement opportunity!

Mission:

North Bay Children’s Center provides comprehensive high-quality childcare and early education programs fueled by our vision of excellence and a spirit of innovation. Our mission is to assure optimal development for every child we serve through:

Culturally rich programs that prepare children from diverse backgrounds to succeed socially, emotionally, and academically,
Our Garden of Eatin’ program that weaves a culture of health and wellness throughout the organization and serves as a model for other communities to emulate,
Strong family, school, and community partnerships that support a shared belief in each child’s ability to succeed.

Vision:

To be a recognized leader in early care and education, ensuring all children in the North Bay – particularly our most vulnerable – have access to critical, high-quality early learning experiences that build the foundation for lifelong success.

North Bay Children’s Center History

1988

NBCC opened its doors to 60 children and their families. Realizing the growing needs among parents who were dealing with the constant juggle between work, school, and family, NBCC became the first child care program in Marin to serve low-income children under two years old.

1996

NBCC doubled its capacity to serve twice as many disadvantaged children by moving its operations to Marin County’s Hamilton Field, where it was the first non-profit community service to relocate to the decommissioned Hamilton Air Force Base as part of the base conversion project.

2004

The Novato Tinker Way site was added which housed a morning preschool program along with before and after school care. The Tinker Way Campus is now home to before and after school-age care and summer camps.

NBCC was awarded a grant from the Marin First Five Children and Family Commission to establish on-site gardens as a part of a comprehensive childhood obesity prevention program.

2006

NBCC expanded into Sonoma County opening two preschools and two before and after school programs at Petaluma’s Cherry Valley and McDowell elementary school sites serving an additional 145 children annually.

2009

NBCC expanded further north by adding two new sites in Santa Rosa on the campuses at Steele Lane and James Monroe Elementary Schools serving an additional 60 low-income preschool children ages 3-5.

2015

Responding to the increased need for subsidized early education in Sonoma Valley, NBCC partners with SV Unified School District and the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation, to bring school-readiness programs for 32 low-income preschool children at Prestwood Elementary School.

2016

NBCC continues to GROW, opening a third Petaluma preschool site at Valley Vista Elementary School. This site will initially serve 24 children with full day preschool and then an additional 16 students for a total of 40 children. Cherry Valley becomes the Before & After School Care and Summer Camp site for Petaluma.

NBCC partners with Santa Rosa’s Bellevue Union School District to open four preschools at Bellevue, Early Learning Center, Taylor Mountain and Meadow View Schools.

2017

NBCC partnered with the Healdsburg Unified School District and opened Fitch Mountain to serve forty-five 3 and 4 year olds. This latest school partnership brings the total number of NBCC preschool campuses to 13 sites serving almost 600 children daily.