At The Center for Early Education, children come first

Our mission to develop joyful, resilient, lifelong learners inspires everything we do. CEE’s founders created one of the first preschool programs in Los Angeles in the 1940s. Today, 540 students (Toddler through Sixth Grade) and their families make up our vibrant, diverse community. The Center’s focus on developmental, play-based early education guides how our students learn and our community thrives.

Happenings at The Center

There's a lot going on at The Center throughout the year!

The Center began as a play group for children

The original founders of this group, most of whom were professional psychoanalysts, were passionate about respecting the inner world of the child. They started in a single-family home in the Hancock Park section of Los Angeles in 1939.
Diversity and inclusion are at the heart of The Center, serving as a driving force in the school’s history. From anti-bias education integrated into all classrooms to the practice of RULER social-emotional learning, CEE students and families celebrate differences and strive for inclusivity on all levels.

CEE's Core Values of Honesty, Caring, Inclusion, and Responsibility are living, breathing tenets of our community and each child experiences in-depth service-learning each year.

Comprehensive academic programs prepare students for secondary school and life beyond The Center. Faculty and staff are experts in their fields, maintaining the latest training in best practices for learning and child development through regular professional development.

Early Childhood students enjoy a developmentally-appropriate program that includes indoor and outdoor experiences organized around learning centers and themes which change throughout the year. As students enter their Elementary years at CEE, they enjoy in-depth, project-based learning in Language Arts, Social Studies and Technology, and the Arts. Students learn math using the Math in Focus Singapore Math Program and conduct rigorous scientific analysis throughout their years at The Center, too.

Accreditations and Memberships

The Center for Early Education, a socio-economically and culturally diverse independent school for children, toddlers through grade six, strives to graduate students who are joyful, resilient, lifelong learners. The Center embraces a philosophy of education that combines a nurturing, inclusive learning environment with an increasingly challenging academic program that addresses the developmental needs of each child.
Independent school for children, toddlers through grade six.  
The Center for Early Education is committed to building and sustaining a community that is free from discrimination of any kind. The Center for Early Education admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.