What We’re All About

The Center for Early Education, a socio-economically and culturally diverse independent school for children, toddlers through grade six, strives to graduate students who are joyful, resilient, life-long learners. The Center embraces a philosophy of education that combines a nurturing, inclusive learning environment with an increasingly challenging academic program that addresses the developmental needs of each child.

The Center for Early Education began as a play group for children in a single-family home in the Hancock Park section of Los Angeles in 1939, founded by psychoanalysts who had recently immigrated from Europe. The Center was created as a place that respected the inner world of the child and the program was based on principles of child development. At a time when preschool education was in its infancy, CEE’s founders pioneered a school dedicated to the needs of young children.

The Center moved to its West Hollywood location in 1946. It was not only a thriving nursery school, but for 44 years until 1991, it also included The College for Developmental Studies, a teaching college that trained generations of early childhood educators. In 1971, The Center for Early Education expanded to an elementary program.

Today, more than 80 years after its founding, The Center has grown to a thriving Toddler-6th grade program of 540 children that still holds true to its founding values.