Welcome to the Early Learning Center

We are a proud part of the School of Education and Leadership of Notre Dame de Namur University
located in Belmont, California and follow a Montessori philosophy

The Early Learning Center (ELC) was founded in 1964/65 school year by Sister Christina Trudeau, a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, on the campus of Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont, California. She earned her Ed.D. at the University of Hawaii. Sister Christina Trudeau was a presence at the beginning of Head Start. Her first Head Start site became the East Palo Alto Montessori School. She founded a Montessori teacher education program at Notre Dame in 1965 which was the first Montessori training program to offer undergraduate and graduate units along with an option to earn a teaching certificate and/or graduate degree. She also founded teacher education programs at Seattle University; Chaminade University in Honolulu, Hawaii; Notre Dame Seishin University in Okayama, Japan and San Carlos University in Cebu, the Philipines. Her training programs have made an enormous impact on the early childhood educational community throughout the world. The thumbprints of her curriculum are to be found in many well-known quality Montessori programs. She has been working with disadvantaged children in different parts of the globe during the last 25 years and has recently come home. Her mission very much parallels that of Montessori in her desire to better and support the lives of children and to educate the human potential through an integrated curriculum. Dr. Maria Montessori was nominated for the Nobel peace prize three times, in 1949, 1950 and 1951. Sister Christina has continued this work striving for global peace and harmony through education. 

Our Montessori child centered learning community aims to support each child's potential with regards to certain principles:

• To consider that humans are social creatures and learning is a social endeavor
• To develop the whole child including mind, body, and spirit
• To celebrate and support the relationship between family, school, and community
• To support a child's development of self-esteem and acknowledge the leadership potential within each individual
• To develop the ability to communicate with others and the interest in reaching out to others
• To respect each other and the precious and fragile environment we have inherited and will offer to the future generations
• To promote a global education celebrating diversity with a commitment to peace and harmony in a just society
• To each do what we can to make the world a better place
• To facilitate and value each student as a lifelong learner and a resource to other learners

Tour Dates 2008/Application Process

The Spring tour date is April 17. The tours begin at 9:15 AM, please schedule with elc@ndnu.edu.   At this time, you will be sent an application form.  It is submitted with a $100.00 non-refundable application fee.  It is required to take a tour before applying for admission. 

Please get a parking permit at the office.  (Driving instructions:  Take the main campus entrance on Ralston.  Take a sharp left onto Laxague.  Follow road toward Ralston Hall.  We are the small building to the left in front of the Notre Dame Elementary School.  The office is the door to the far left of the building.)

It is necessary to resubmit an application for each school year in order to maintain a place on the waiting list.  It is not necessary to retake the tour.

Standing (from left) – Susan Forbes, Mollie Thompson, Jane Khoury, Sonia Bon, Lettie Villavicencio, Gloria Gil
Sitting (from left) – Jan Lawrence, Santa Claus, Suzie Gregorwich
Not pictured – Elvia Agripino

Director

Jan Lawrence,M.Ed, earned her Montessori Credential at NDNU in 1984 after earning a B.A. in Romance Linguistics at SFSU. She did additional graduate work with Dr. Rodgers of Vancouver University College researching second language acquisition utilizing the Montessori philosophy.

She has taught preschool through first grade in Italy, the Bay Area and Mexico. Her background in linguistics and experience with Italian bilingual education inspired her development of a methodology for second language acquisition through the arts and cooking with a strong emphasis on language as culture bound.   This method has been used to teach both adults and children in French, Spanish, and Italian.  Due to this work, she was invited by the University of San Diego to do teacher training in Spanish Language and Culture. In 2000, she founded a Spanish language and culture program in Mexico called the Escuela de Juanita.   Jan also sponsors a community service educational project for disadvantaged children in the rural community of Aticama, Nayarit.

She was invited to join the faculty of Canada Community College in 1998 and continues serving as adjunct professor in the Department of ECE/Child Development. In 2005, Jan was awarded a fellowship by the Department of Education for Wested, the Center for Family Studies to train teachers and caregivers as to the vital importance of a close partnership between early childhood programs and parents to support optimal child development.  

Her belief in the common humanity of the people and the cultures of the world has been a guiding principle in her advocacy for children and global education.  She was drawn to the Montessori philosophy for its value and commitment to the dignity of the individual and respect for the environment.  

Teaching Staff

About the Program

The ELC is in session from September through June. We follow a traditional school year calendar, including Winter Break, Spring Break and other Federal Holidays. There is no childcare after or before school. There is an after school Spanish program. The after school Spanish program is Monday through Thursday 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM. We use a team teaching strategy in a large multi-aged classroom enriching the curriculum with art, music, gardening and an integrated Spanish program. We have an extra-curricular one-hour supervised lunch program.

The five day preschool program has two sessions:

Morning Session 8:30 - 11:15 am
Afternoon Session 12:30 - 3:15 pm (Monday 12:45 - 3:30pm)
Students may only attend one session.

*After School Spanish Program (Monday - Thursday 3:30 - 5:00pm)

The kindergarten program has one five-hour session, and begins at 8:30 am continuing until 1:30 pm.

Tuition for academic year 2008/2009 is $6,340 for preschool and $7,800 for Kindergarten. Tuition may be paid in installments

We have a 3 year curriculum. The culmination is a Kindergarten program, the Rainbow Leader Group.  Two years and nine months is the youngest age we accept.

For further information, email elc@ndnu.edu