OUR SCHOOLS
Located on the Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s campuses in South Bend, Indiana, ECDC is a NAEYC accredited, State licensed, non-profit early childhood program serving approx. 300 children ages 2 years through kindergarten with a staff of 45 dedicated professionals. ECDC at Notre Dame serves approx. 175 children enrolled with a combination of full time and part time schedules, ages 2 through kindergarten in 6 classrooms. ECDC at Saint Mary’s serves approx. 120 children enrolled with a combination of full time and part time schedules ages 3 through 5 years in 4 preschool classrooms.
ECDC-SMC is licensed for 90 children in attendance at one time. Historically, approximately 135 children, from 125 families, participate at ECDC-SMC in either full time or part time schedules.
Both ECDC programs are housed in bright and welcoming spaces providing state of the art early childhood experiences fostering a love of learning while developing competent, confident learners. ECDC serves diverse populations of families in the Notre Dame, Saint Mary’s and South Bend communities and celebrates diversity.
ECDC at Saint Mary’s is open to the public while ECDC at Notre Dame only serves families affiliated with the University of Notre Dame and Saint Mary’s College. One or both of the parents or guardians of children attending ECDC-ND must be Notre Dame or Saint Mary’s College faculty, staff, student, administration, alumni/alumnae, or employee of Holy Cross Order institutions. For more than 40 years, ECDC has earned its stellar reputation for excellence with a dedicated and skilled group of professional teachers, involved families and college students in a vibrant community.
Families may enroll children with Full Time enrollment schedules (Monday – Friday all day) or Part Time enrollment schedules (MWF all day, TTH all day, MWF mornings or afternoon, TTH mornings or afternoon, or M-F mornings or afternoons). About 50% of the children are enrolled with part time schedules and 50% of the children are enrolled with full time schedules. During the summer children who are school age must be enrolled in one of the three full day schedules – MWF all day, TTH all day or M-F all day.
“ECDC is such a wonderful school!” —Parent of 2 children who attend ECDC-ND