Our Mission at the CEC is to offer a warm, secure atmosphere where the love of Jesus is taught to children and shown to them and their families. Our vision is to love and follow Jesus fully so that others in our community are drawn to Him.
Development: To help children developmentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, and socially while learning to discipline themselves and relate well to others. (Luke 2:52, Psalm 1:3, Proverbs 22:6)
Dependency: Prayer is the foundation of all that we do because without God we can accomplish nothing. We seek to worship Him with our whole lives, mind, body, and spirit. (Matthew 6:33, 22:37)
Authenticity: We are real people who are honest about out flaws. We are a genuine, transparent, united group of believers who are devoted to Biblical truth. (1 John 1:8-9, Matthew 23:25-27, and John 13:35)
Multi-Generational: We value every person at every life stage and circumstance. You are an important part of our family! We desire to build a community of support where relationships thrive. Our goal is to create safe and exciting environments where children love to attend and their parents are prepared for the journey. (Psalm 100:5)
Generosity: We desire to be known as investors. We believe that it is better to give than to receive, and we want to invest in people. (Acts 20:35, 2 Corinthians 9:7)
Humility: We want to stand out as a center that cares one about other people than ourselves. We see serving others as a lifestyle, not an event. (1Peter 5:6)
Community: Life happens in community, and we want to intentionally build and reproduce environments that nurture relationships. We are created with a need for other people, and we believe that life is better when we are together. (Acts 2:42-47)
The CEC began as a Pre-school (am hours only) and was in business from 1982 to the Fall of 1993, under the direction of Kathy Murphy. The Child Enrichment Center opened in the Fall of 1993 under the direction of Davey Finley. Ms. Finley resigned in the summer of 1994 and Fran Turek served as interim director from August to January 1, 1995. Teresa Finchum took over as director in January 1995. At that time, the CEC had an enrollment of 112 children and a staff of approximately 30. Enrollment gradually increased in the original wing of the CEC until maximum capacity was reached in 1997. There was a total of 165 children enrolled at that time. The CEC maintained a full enrollment of 165 children with a staff of 50 until 2003 when the new wing of the CEC was built. In August of 2006, Yvonne Farler took over as Director of the CEC until December of 2012. Brooke Ko served as interim director until Jody Brown was hired as the Director in April of 2013. In June of 2013, Jessica Chandler was hired to assist Jody Brown. Jessica Chandler became the Director of Operations in November 2013. In August of 2018 Jennifer Standard became the director and retired in 2021. Alaina Robinson became assistant director in 2018, and became Director in October 2021.
The center is currently run under the Direction of Alaina Robinson. At present, the CEC is operating with 60 employees and approximately 221 children. There are 2 infant rooms, 2 creeper rooms, 2 toddler rooms, 3 – K2 classes, 3 – K3 classes, 3 – K4 classes, and after school care for K5 through 2nd grade with pickup from Plain and Simpsonville Elementary School.