Our Purpose

Our purpose is to minister to the whole child by providing a safe, caring, loving environment that nurtures each child’s social, emotional, physical, intellectual and spiritual growth. We offer emotional and spiritual support to parents and families.

Our History

We are a non profit program that is a mission of the Summit Church and we are licensed by the state of Colorado. We first opened our doors in 1998 with our toddler center. We recognize the unique worth of all God’s children regardless of their race, sex or cultural background. It is our desire to minister to all children, sharing Christ’s love for mankind.

How We Serve

We serve families with children 6 weeks old up through 5 years old. We are open M-F from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm. We operate year round and have six classrooms. We are closed Labor Day, 3 days at Thanksgiving, 2 weeks at Christmas, 1 week for Spring Break, 1 week for summer break, and Memorial Day. We also close for 2 teacher development days and some days in the summer for Summer Break.

Infants

This is our most recent addition to our center. This bright new area is specially designed to meet the needs of our youngest children and their families. We have 2 caregivers with 8 children ages 6 weeks up to around 12-15 months. This is a year round program with full and part time spots available.

Toddlers

We now offer 2 separate toddler rooms. One is designed for 1 year olds and the other is for 2 year olds. The ratio in these rooms is 1:5 and 1:6. These rooms and their routines are designed to encourage these young children to explore their world in a loving, safe environment while also learning some of the basics of social emotional development like sharing, waiting and taking turns.

Preschool

Our preschool program is for children 3-5 years old. Here we offer a balance of play and structure that introduces children to the prenumber and language experiences, routines and other concepts that will prepare them for a lifetime of learning enjoyment. Through play, discovery learning, hands on activities, literature, science experiments, music, fingerplays and art activities, the children explore a variety of themes through out the year.

We have a lot of fun at our school and through daily Bible stories, prayers and verses, the children see how God is part of their everyday life. We feel that children are precious gifts from God and that the early years are so important in developing lifelong values and skills. We invite you to check out our program and we look forward to getting to know you and your child.

Early Learning Center Director

Shanti was born and raised in Durango. Over the course of her life, she has moved a few times, but Durango has always called her back. She attended Fort Lewis College and studied Elementary Education. During her time at FLC, she started working at SELC as an afternoon assistant teacher. She moved to California in 2015 and worked at an incredible center there. This further developed her love and passion for early childhood education. She moved back to Durango in early 2017 and came back to work at SELC as a preschool teacher. In 2018 she took the required college courses to become Director certified. After a year of study, she earned her Directors License and worked alongside Jeanette (former SELC Director) for the next 3 years in hopes of becoming the director when she retired.

Life throws curve balls though, and her plan didn’t work out quite the way she thought. Around the time her son was born (September 2021), her husband was given an incredible work opportunity in Arizona. They took the chance and moved away, but quickly realized the importance of being near family and moved back. She was thankful to be able to teach pre-k at SELC again. She’s enjoyed her time immensely as a preschool teacher and it has brought her so much joy over the years, but she is ready for a new opportunity. The time feels right for that transition, and she couldn’t be happier.

Shanti wants everyone to feel supported during this transition, and invites everyone to come to her for guidance, or with questions, concerns, input etc. She is very excited to get to know you all better. Please don’t hesitate to pop in and say hi or ask questions! She is looking forward to what this year has in store.

[email protected]

970-247-8680