Welcome
The Early Childhood Care and Education Center (ECCEC) at CSU Channel Islands is the result of more than two decades of campus visioning to expand access to high-quality early learning opportunities for children and families.
In 2025, President Emeritus Richard Yao convened a cross-campus planning committee to develop a fiscally responsible and scalable solution to meet CSUCI’s on-campus childcare needs. The ECCEC project is guided by three core priorities: expanding access to high-quality early learning, supporting student and employee families, and strengthening the early childhood workforce pipeline through CSUCI’s Early Childhood Studies (ECS) program.
Backed by a $13.5 million investment from the State of California, the County of Ventura, and philanthropic partners like Kennedy Wilson, the ECCEC is scheduled to open in 2028.
In September 2025, the ECCEC Project Team reconvened to begin the planning and design phase for the new on-campus center. This effort builds on a longstanding university commitment to supporting children, families, and the early learning workforce, while advancing CSUCI’s mission of equity, student success, and public impact.
Please visit our Family Child Care Network, Project Progress and Timeline, and Conceptual Plans & Construction Progress for more information.
Our Vision
- Provide children & families with an environment that fosters care, mutual respect, accessibility & works actively to sustain their funds of knowledge, cultures and languages.
- Develop an environment that facilitates formation of strong relationships between educators & children by encouraging children to pursue their curiosities through play in a culturally sustaining way.
- Create indoor & outdoor environments that reflect the surrounding ecology, giving children & families a stronger feeling of belonging & encouraging them to share their knowledge, experiences/expertise, and with opportunities to engage in the arts.
Our Mission
- Our dual language Early Child Care and Education Center (ECCEC) will be a research center dedicated to serving children aged 6 weeks to 5 years from diverse backgrounds, including families of CI students, farmworker communities, and faculty and staff. We are committed to creating an innovative educational environment that honors both Spanish and English languages while nurturing each child's natural curiosity and love of discovery.
- Through thoughtfully designed play-based and inquiry-based learning experiences, we will foster children's innate sense of wonder and exploration particularly in nature and the outdoors. Our research-informed approach will focus on developing more equitable, inclusive, accessible, and culturally sustaining environments that embrace the rich cultural heritage and linguistic diversity of the families we serve.
Guiding Principles
Equity, Multilingualism, Inclusion, Accessibility, Belonging, Participation, Service Learning, Teacher Education, and Research.