Every morning in Stamford, children arrive at CLC ready for the day ahead. Some are just a few weeks into life. Some are getting ready for kindergarten. All of them are met by teachers who know their names, their strengths, and what makes them light up. That is where our work begins, and it is the heart of who we are.
Children’s Learning Centers of Fairfield County, known to most people simply as CLC, has been part of Stamford since 1902. We opened our doors as the Stamford Day Nursery, founded to care for the children of working families so their parents could earn a living and their little ones could learn and grow.
More than a century later, that purpose still guides everything we do. We provide high-quality early childhood education and care to all children and their families, from six weeks old through kindergarten eligibility, across programs including Head Start, Early Head Start, School Readiness, and Child Development.
What sets CLC apart is how we see a child. We call it the Whole Child, Whole Family Approach, and it shapes every part of our day. In our classrooms, children discover, connect, and grow in spaces built to nurture their learning, their confidence, and their sense of belonging.
At the same time, we support the families around them, because a child thrives when the whole family is steady. Learning and care are not separate things at CLC. They belong together.
That approach reaches further into Stamford than many people realize. More than 800 children come through our doors each day, and one in three Stamford public children starts kindergarten as a CLC graduate. We are proud to be a place where a strong start is not the exception but the expectation, and where every child is welcomed with openness, dignity, and care.
This is the first in a short series introducing CLC to our community, both the families who have known us for years and the neighbors just getting to know us now. In the weeks ahead, we will share how we care for the whole child in our classrooms, how we support the whole family beyond them, and the community of partners, volunteers, and families who make this work possible.
We are glad you are here. Follow along, and get to know the place where Stamford’s future starts.
Learn more, enroll, or connect with us here.