North Bay Children’s Center – New Year Brings New Opportunities

It’s the beginning of the new year and we’re already off to a great start. NBCC is excited to announce the opening of its second toddler classroom in Sonoma County and the launch of a new associate teacher apprenticeship program in Marin.

In December NBCC rolled out a new toddler program at its Fitch Mountain campus in Healdsburg to provide childcare and early education for 12 toddlers ages 18 months to 3 years. This is the second of five new toddler classrooms NBCC will launch over the next several months as part of its program expansion plans to serve an additional 60 children and their families at existing sites throughout the North Bay.

In January we began partnering with Marin Health & Human Services, Community Action Marin, and College of Marin, among other key partners, to launch an associate teacher apprenticeship program called the Pathways to Success Apprenticeship. This unique paid learning and on-the-job training experience will support a group of individual participants who will earn 12 Early Childhood Education units through College of Marin, complete 2,000 hours of paid work experience, and will be eligible for an Associate Teacher permit.

NBCC is pleased to welcome nine student teachers to this 18-month long apprenticeship. Our goal is to create a learning environment where the apprentices practice what they learn and contribute from their own experience.  President and CEO, Susan Gilmore stated, “This is such a win for our community. It supports working parents who need childcare for their kids, it benefits the participants in their personal growth as teachers, and supports the expansion of our early care and education workforce development.”