In the late 1970s several employees of the Westport Public Schools began discussing the possibility of developing an early childhood center for their young children. They sought to establish “…a quality daycare center involving a high degree of parent participation with consistent loving care [a] daycare [that] serves as an extended family, offering enrichment and support that can be beneficial for parent and child alike.
This parent group came together with the Child Care Council, a non-profit agency interested in expanding quality childcare, and the Westport Infant Toddler Center was established to meet the needs of working families. The program opened in 1979 with five children and two teachers in a classroom at the Greens Farms Elementary School.
In 1980, our founders came together with other organizations serving children and their families to form the Parent Child Center at the Hillspoint School. The additional space in the new building enabled the Westport Infant Toddler Center to expand its program to serve younger infants and preschoolers. To reflect the broader scope of the services, the name was changed to the Children’s Community Daycare Center (CCDC). The high standards for quality early care and education in an intimate environment remained as constants in this transition.
In 1988, CCDC was granted accreditation from the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs, among the first early childhood programs in the nation to achieve this status. In 2004, the name of the program changed to the Children's Community Development Center.