Our History
In 2004, California State University San Marcos established a Childcare Services Fee paid by students each semester. The fee was created to support operations of the first established Early Learning Center operated by the Associated Students, Inc.
The Early Learning Center was first operated by ASI, and was originally housed off-campus at the corner of Twin Oaks Valley Road and Barham Drive. Although the Center was off-campus, it still had the look and feel of a warm and caring learning environment for the children of our CSUSM students, faculty, staff and community. In 2005, it was decided to relocate the Center on-campus. The center, at its current location opened its doors in 2007.
The 21,000 square foot Center for Children and Families currently serves over 150 children with room for growth.
Founders
A little about Children's Creative Learning Centers and us. In 2007, CCLC combined forces with Knowledge Learning Corporation to provide employers a dedicated business focused entirely on employer-sponsored childcare.
In 2007, CCLC celebrated 15 years of providing high-quality early childhood education programming to families and employers. CCLC was founded in 1992 when Fran Durekas, fresh out of college, purchased an existing after-school care program near Standford University that was struggling with enrollment and teacher turnover. Fran knew that by investing in the right teachers - those committed to this profession - that the program would stabilize and flourish.
Within three months, the center's reputation was much stronger and the program was fully enrolled within six months. The next year, based on that success, CCLC then opened a second program that was also quickly successful. Word spread rapidly among parents and CCLC had a waiting list in three months. More programs have followed, with employers soon knocking on CCLC's door asking us to work with them to design programs to meet the specific needs of their employee families. The rest is history.
Now, 15 years later, the same principles apply in the 103 programs we currently operate across the country. CCLC focuses on developing unique and effective partnerships with employers to provide the highest quality childcare to their employees. At Cal State San Marcos, this partnership is extremely unique and innovative because our client families are CSUSM students, faculty, staff and community members.