We honor traditions to celebrate with family and loved ones. We close our program on February 9th so children and teachers can spend time with their families to prepare for the beginning of the new year.

Kung Hei Fat Choi! This year is the year of the Dragon. The dragon symbolizes strength, independence, and is a great leader that seeks support and reassurance. The center managers and support staff at Cross Cultural Family Center truly embody what the dragon symbolizes, and we want to recognize the strength that they bring with their leadership at our sites day in and day out.

The staff at CCFC embody what it means to have strength in leadership. They demonstrate this to the children we serve everyday, teaching them how to be self confident in their abilities to build friendships, and how to collaborate with their peers. Our aim is to help children learn from each other about belonging, compassion, and fairness.

Cross Cultural Family Center wishes everyone a healthy and prosperous new year.

Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Children learn about the importance of remembering and learning from their own families' past and the history of one another's families. Through shared understanding and empathy, children learn to care for one another and how to become a member of a diverse community, then a whole society. Learning about the history of African American families and friends builds understanding, support, and unity.

At Cross Cultural Family Center, children’s cultures are incorporated in daily activities and highlighted throughout the year in the classroom learning environments. However, during Black History Month, special emphasis is placed on African American sheroes and heroes, and the contributions made by ordinary African American citizens. Books, songs, tangible art and craft activities are the many ways that children learn about self appreciation and the appreciation for difference.

Diversity and Inclusion Showcased in CCFC’s Curriculum

For children to learn about their families, their culture, and to strengthen their individual identities, Cross Cultural Family Center is helping children acknowledge the strength of diversity and the rights of all. The curriculum in our programs not only celebrate the diverse backgrounds of our children and families, but is intended to provide them with culturally and developmentally appropriate antidotes to racism and hate.

TOGETHER WE STAND... against Racism, Hate and Division, and for Inclusion, Respect and Unity.

February Words of the Month: Appreciation, Compassion, and Fairness.

On February 16, The Cross Cultural Family Center staff celebrated Black History Month and Lunar New Year. With nearly 100 staff members gathering for a Chinese lunch and festivities, the teacher from each center showcased its February curriculum by sharing highlights of Lunar New Year and Black History Month.

Each center shared a book and the learning expansions based on the book's story. They also shared songs in multiple languages that highlighted either African-American or Asian cultures. In addition, the staff at each center shared it's team view of their journey as early childhood educators, and how they each contribute to the whole in their approach to providing strong child development programming and services to the children they collectively serve.

In conclusion, the attendees shared an affirmation of the core values of Cross Cultural Family Center. We share our affirmation practice as a reminder of our joint commitment to being part of a larger community, inclusive of all CCFC staff, as well as administrators, support staff, and teachers.

At Cross Cultural Family Center, We Believe...

~ Children have the right to be cared for in environments that are safe, nurturing, and engaging;

~ Children have the right to learning experiences that reflect and promote their ethnic heritage, cultural values, family structure, and home language;

~ Children have the right to be cared for by well-prepared professionals who work in partnership with their families, and who are nurturing, loving, and authentic.

"Cross-cultural education is designed to uplift children, to give them imagination, and to help them experience diversity on a very basic level. The child will first learn to value himself [or herself]; then to value others; then to value humanity."

~ Mary Lane, Ed.D., Founding Director