Our Mission
Carpinteria Children’s Project connects families to early education, quality care, diverse resources, and support services necessary for their children to thrive, flourish, and succeed.
Our Approach
Children are only as strong as the families in which they live, and families are only as strong as the communities in which they reside. To truly affect the child, we must address the surrounding factors that influence a child’s ability to thrive. No matter what program or activity parents or children participate in, the larger situation in which they live dramatically influences the extent to which they can make positive changes in their lives and community. In pursuit of our comprehensive goals, we focus on our youngest children and their families while addressing academic achievement, health, and social & emotional wellness at the family and community levels.
Our Work
- Providing early childhood education (ECE) to children 18 mos- 5 yrs of age.
- Providing family support through our Family Resource Center and ECE programs
- Coordinating collective impact networks including our Partner Network of education, health, and social service agencies.
Our Community
Carpinteria, California is a small beach town of approximately 13,000 residents (Census 2020), It is quite socio-economically diverse and relatively isolated from the nearest population center, Santa Barbara. Approximately 51% of the kindergarteners in public elementary schools are low-income and roughly 27% are English learners. Many of our working poor families are employed as domestic workers or regular or seasonal workers in “the flowers;” Carpinteria is the biggest flower-producing region in the state of California. Despite the current drought, Carpinteria continues to produce avocados as well. The largest employers in town are Procore, Agilent, and the Carpinteria Unified School District.
Our History
CCP was founded in 2008 as an initiative of Carpinteria Unified School District and funded as a public-private collaborative designed to address needs specific to Carpinteria families. For the first time, Carpinteria would have a preschool aligned with the school district’s standards of school readiness and a hub of family services meant to connect local families with a network of resources from health care to mental health and basic necessities.
With CCP, the community gained its first dedicated center for children and families that could serve our populations while setting community-wide expectations for what a child would experience from its first days in preschool or daycare to high school graduation and beyond.
As of 2016, we decided to become our own 501c3 and operate as a standalone nonprofit. We have continued our strong partnership with the school district and work together to find and address the needs of children and families in the community.
