El Centrito Family Learning Centers

About El Centrito Preschools
El Centrito Family Learning Centers operates comprehensive, licensed preschool programs in two locations, one in la Colonia neighborhood, and another in South Oxnard.

El Centrito’s preschool programs are designed to promote and increase English literacy skills among children of Oxnard in order to improve educational outcomes. This goal is interwoven with a commitment to enhance parent’s role as their children’s first teacher by fostering parent leadership and involvement. El Centrito's Preschool Programs utilize evidence-informed curricula, including the “Creative Curriculum” and the Waterford Early Reading Program to achieve this goal.
The programs are offered twice daily, 5 days a week, for ten months. Each class lasts 3 hours and has a maximum of 24 children enrolled. Classes are staffed by a Lead Teacher, two teachers, and parent/community volunteers. Families seek El Centrito services because staff are culturally and linguistically competent and because they employ a multi-dimensional service approach that addresses the multiple needs of families who experience a variety of stressors. Furthermore, services are accessible and are provided free or on a sliding scale.

Program funding is provided primarily by First 5 Ventura County via the Oxnard Neighborhood for Learning.

How will children benefit from this program?
Children have fun in the program! Children engage in activities from a variety of learning areas, including dramatic play, art, science, and technology.
Each child spends 15 minutes at a computer everyday utilizing the Waterford Early Reading Program, which is a comprehensive educational software curriculum that develops pre-literacy skills in a fun and effective way.
Children build letter recognition skills through daily exposure to the alphabet, songs, and letter games. Children gain reading skills by being actively involved in literature activities. They are involved in activities that teach shapes, colors, numbers, story sequence, and much more. Furthermore, the scientifically-based curriculum called “Creative Curriculum” promotes self expression and facilitates opportunities for children to learn from their own interests and discoveries.

Is program bilinguals
Yes. El Centrito Family Learning Centers values the cultural diversity of our community, and our programs strive to promote language development in both English and Spanish. To meet the cultural and linguistic needs of our community, the program is staffed by bilingual teachers who use books, puppetry, and traditional songs and games in English and Spanish.

How are Parents involved?

El Centrito is committed to actively involving parents by fostering parent leadership, emphasizing the value of reading to their children, and enhancing their role as their children's first teacher. To achieve these goals, all parents of children involved in the program are required to participate in monthly training workshops that promote a rich learning environment at home. Parents also commit to do volunteer work with El Centrito throughout the course of the program. These volunteer opportunities give parents and children a strong sense of connection to the school and to El Centrito’s mission.

Contact Information

For more information about our preschool programs, please contact

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