MISSION
The Early Childhood Center of Excellence (ECCOE) at Santa Fe Community College uses multi-generation approaches to enhance early childhood education and the well-being of families in New Mexico by accomplishing the following:
- Providing high-quality bilingual early care and education at the 5-Star NAEYC accredited SFCC Kids Campus so that parents can work or attend school.
- Housing the First Born® and More home visiting model office to provide impactful home visiting services for families with children prenatal-5 years old.
- Sponsoring the APRENDE Early Childhood Teacher Registered Apprenticeship Program
- Supporting the early childhood workforce with affordable and accessible education pathways and professional development opportunities.
- Offering engaging and high quality professional learning and contract training through the Institute for Innovative Family Programs for early childhood professionals and organizations.
- Building opportunities for student parents to participate in programs that lead to degree and certificate attainment by supporting the whole family through coaching, workshops, and family-friendly services.
- Advocating for inclusive and equitable multi-generation policies at the state and national level to enhance family well-being in New Mexico.
History
The Early Childhood Center of Excellence (ECCOE) at Santa Fe Community College (SFCC) was established in 2015 with a mission to enhance New Mexico’s early childhood system through aligned delivery of exceptional early childhood education and professional development opportunities.
Kids Campus was established in 1996 to support the SFCC community with high-quality early education and care and to serve as a lab school for training early childhood educators. Kids Campus has expanded to include ten bilingual classrooms for infants through preschool.
In 2018, ECCOE broadened its impact by bringing the First Born Home Visiting Model Office, founded in Silver City, NM in 1997 to Santa Fe Community College. First Born and More serves as the state’s local home visiting program, offering crucial support to families statewide through Program Model Partners across the state. First Born and More provides extensive training for home visitors and the early childhood workforce.
In 2022 ECCOE launched APRENDE, New Mexico’s first early childhood registered apprenticeship program, creating innovative pathways to recruit and retain the early childhood workforce through pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship opportunities.
ECCOE is home to the SFCC Student Parent Success Project and the New Mexico Student Parent Alliance. These programs support multigenerational success for student parents in higher education and advocate for better policies and support for New Mexico’s families.
ECCOE remains steadfast in its commitment to innovation, providing multi-generational programs that address many facets of New Mexico’s early childhood ecosystem, and serving as a national model for workforce development and direct service in early childhood education.
For more information about ECCOE Programs, contact us at eccoe@sfcc.edu
