Child Life Center

The Child Life Center is a NAEYC accredited, inclusive learning center that provides services to all children ages six weeks to six years, including those with special needs. The center is one of only two inclusive child care programs offered to the Evansville community that can accommodate children with multiple, complex physical and developmental disabilities.

As a leader in the field of child development and special education, the center offers comprehensive, developmentally appropriate programming in a warm, home-like setting. With a generous ratio of staff to children, our facility features eight classrooms, a large indoor activity room, and a special needs-accessible playground.

It has been proven that children with special needs learn at a quicker rate when they are also surrounded with typically developing classmates because it provides them with role models to learn from while encouraging them to follow and progress with their peers. Our specialized teachers and staff are highly trained in integrating children into the classrooms, accepting them as capable individuals.

The Child Life Center extends Evansville ARC’s long-standing tradition of community service – filling a need for quality child care in an educationally enriched, inclusive environment. Children are enrolled without regard to race, religion, sex, special needs, or national origin.

The Child Life Center enrolls more than 80 children in this state-of the-art facility and nearly 45 children in Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation’s therapeutic preschool program.

Respectful Infant Environment (RIE) Approach

The goal of our well-trained staff is to be a model program in the field of child development. To achieve this goal, we apply a creative play-based curriculum that allows children to take the lead in the learning process.

An example is the RIE approach, which strives to free infants from restrictive equipment such as swings, high chairs and strollers. Instead, infants are encouraged to move and discover their surroundings, which allows for more personal attention and exploration.

Dance Lessons

Thanks to support from the Arts Council of Southwestern Indiana, the Indiana Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, every child enrolled in the Child Life Center preschool program (ages 3-5) participates in a 30-minute dance/creative movement class each week during the school year. The lessons teach the children about coordination, rhythm, and movement.

The Child Life Center is an Indiana-licensed facility open Monday through Friday from 6:15 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. The Child Life Center’s rates are competitive with comparable facilities in the area. We offer full-time care for all children with the cost of care varying according to the child’s age.

To learn more about the Center and its advantages for you and your child,
please call 812-428-5433 or visit the Contact Us page.