| About The Whistle-Stop
The Whistle-Stop History
The Whistle-Stop was established through a generous
endowment from the estate of Dr. Franklin G. Ebaugh, Jr., the former chief of
staff of the VA Hospital in Palo Alto.
Ground-breaking ceremony, Jan 28th 1993
The Center serves approximately 90 children from 6 weeks
to pre-kindergarten. Enrollment is open to the medical center
staff and well as the community at large.
Dirt lot where the Whistle Stop now
stands.
The Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to
providing a caring environment for children and their families. The Board
of Directors of the Center is made up of medical center employees and persons
from the community at large. The Executive Director of the Center serves
as an advisor to the Board.
The pre-fab buildings being put into place
The Center is operated on a fee-for-service basis, the
funds providing for salaries and all day-today operational expenses.
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West view of the building just after
construction.
This is where the Toddler play area is now located
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Philosophy
Our program is based on the notion that children are
capable individuals who are acquiring social, language, cognitive, self-help and
creative skills in a sequence appropriate for the individual child.
Our goal is to assist each child in acquiring these skills
by providing a safe, healthy environment staffed by warm, nurturing and
knowledgeable teachers.
Children's needs and ideas are respected and attended to.
Caregivers provide consistent, safe limits and parents are kept informed of
their child's activities, assuring continuity and consistency between home and
the Center.
Realistic goals are set for each child and the
environment is adjusted so that the child is free to explore, test, succeed, or
fail and try again.
The uniqueness of each family, its culture and values are
honored; families are actively involved in the planning of multi-cultural
activities.
Staff are available to assist families with issues of
parenting and parent education classes are available.
Staff
Our staff of dedicated early childhood education
specialists is carefully selected to reflect the philosophy of our Center.
Each of us believes in the competence of young children and the philosophy that
children learn by doing.
Staff are chosen for their warmth and awareness of
developmental progression of children. Staff members respect the rights of
children and parents. They work closely with families to ensure
consistency between home and Center environments.
We strongly believe that early childhood education is a
profession with far-reaching effects on the future of children's lives.
Our staff members include persons with master's,
bachelors', and associate degree as well as persons currently enrolled in early
childhood education programs.
Persons classified as teachers or coordinators have
completed a minimum of 12 semester hours of early childhood education course
work. Teacher
assistants may be currently enrolled in classes. Most staff persons come
to us with first-aid and CPR training; these competencies are renewed annually.
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is the policy making entity for
the Child Care Center. Members of the Board are community persons, parents
of children who work for the VA and parents of children from the community at
large. A list of current Board Members is posted at the Whistle Stop.
The Board meets approximately 6 times per year.
Parent Committee
Parent Committee information coming soon.
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