History

C5 Children’s School began as The Civic Center Child Care Corporation in 1985 as a non-profit public benefit corporation. It was created by a volunteer group of parents and state employees who worked at the Public Utilities Commission in San Francisco. Their goal was to establish on-site child care services for state employees and the general public. The result was one of the first on-site business child care programs in San Francisco. It is located in the State of California Public Utilities Commission Building at 505 Van Ness Avenue. We initially served children who were two months to three years old.

In 1999, we were asked to expand our services and establish a preschool center for older children and their families by opening the C5 Children’s School Preschool Center two blocks away in the Hiram Johnson State Office Building at 455 Golden Gate Avenue. Although our Centers are located in buildings that are operated by the State of California, C5 is an independent organization that is not employed by or funded by the State of California.

Now, our official, legal name is C5 Children’s School. We kept the “C5” nick name that everyone used as the first part of our new name and added “Children’s School” to represent our evolution from a child care program to the full-featured learning and development program that we have worked very hard to develop.

Today, the Infant-Toddler Center and the Preschool Center combine their services to provide a continuous program for children who are two months old through five years old and the time they enter Kindergarten. The Infant-Toddler Center serves up to 36 children who are two months old to two years old and their families. The Preschool Center is a spacious facility for up to 84 children who are 1.5 years old to 5.9 years old and their families.

Both centers are licensed through the California Health and Human Services Agency, Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing Division.

The Infant-Toddler Center License Number is 380504834.
The Preschool Center License Number is 384000654.

We continue to offer rich, diverse, and comprehensive child development and learning services to a wide range of children and their families who live and work in and around the San Francisco Bay area.