About Us

We welcome you and your child to The Crayon Box Children’s Learning Center!  We are glad you have decided to join us at an important time in your child’s development.  The Andrews University Children’s Learning Center has a long history of providing a quality child care and preschool experience for young children. Our center began as a child development lab in the mid-1950s.

We are a Learning Center because we provide a variety of physical, emotional, spiritual, and academic experiences for children at every phase of their development.  We believe that children learn best through play and exploration.  They are in the process of building a solid foundation for continued academic learning.  Our teachers provide the children with stimulating opportunities which encourage the child to build that foundation as s/he interacts with every facet of her/his environment.  Not only do we provide for your child’s physical and emotional needs and cognitive growth, we also take seriously our responsibility to introduce children to Jesus as a loving friend.

The National Association for the Education of Young children (NAEYC) offers the following measure of quality care when considering accreditation.  It is our goal at The Crayon Box to exceed these criteria:

• Teaching staff express warmth through behaviors such as physical affection, eye contact, tone of voice, and smiles.
• Teaching staff function as the secure bases for children.  They respond promptly in developmentally appropriate ways to children’s positive initiations, negative emotion, and feelings of hurt and fear by providing comfort, support, and assistance.
• Teaching staff evaluate and change their responses based on individual needs.  Teaching staff vary their interactions to be sensitive and responsive to differing abilities, temperaments, activity levels, and cognitive and social development.

We look forward to sharing many happy experiences with you and your child.  If we can be of help in any way, please let us know.

Sincerely,

Kristy Conklin, Director
269-471-3350  
crayonbox@andrews.edu
 

What We Offer

• State Licensed
• Star Rated
• Professional Standards
• State Qualified Teachers
• Flexible Scheduling
• Christian Philosophy /Warm and Caring Environment
• Developmental/Interactive/Educational Program
• Developmental appropriate activities:
• Readiness Skills
• Positive Social Skills
• Motor Development
• Science Exploration
• Creative Art and Language
• Breakfast served each morning
• Two daily snacks
• Hot Lunch
• Potty Training available for ages 18 months - 36 months
• Preschool and Pre-K programs for ages 3 and 4
• Young 5s program
• Summer Camp for Kids 1st grade -12
• Spacious Playgrounds
• Garden

General Information

Ages: 2 weeks - 12 years old

• Monday, Tuesday, Thursday
  6:45 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
• Wednesday
  6:45 a.m. - 6:30 pm
• Friday
  6:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Other Information

• Curriculum Type: Developmentally Age Appropriate
• Religious Orientation: Christian
• Total Capacity: 150

Open all year round for Andrews University and for the Whole Community