Children's Harbor

Children's Harbor is a comprehensive early childhood agency operating in the South Hampton Roads area since 1911 and recently on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. In 1923, the corporation, a 501(c) (3) agency, became a certified member of the United Way of South Hampton Roads (UWSHR). From its modest beginnings as one small childcare facility, the agency has grown to currently operate five model early care and education centers; a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP); and a Community Training and Professional Development Program. Moreover, Children’s Harbor provides an Emergency Voucher Fund awarding monetary assistance to maintain stability for children in early care settings for families experiencing financial instability or familial crisis, and Infant-Toddler Specialists who ensure our region’s most vulnerable children are reaching developmental milestones in quality early childhood experiences.

Our vision is advocating for access to quality early care and education for all
children.  Our mission statement is as follows:  By providing places
and programs, Children’s Harbor is the model for comprehensive programs.

For the last century, Children's Harbor has set the standards in Hampton Roads for high quality early childhood programs. Serving diverse populations across all of Hampton Roads and on the Shore, our centers are located in Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk, and Onancock. Four of our programs were among the region's first to be accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).  In addition, and to further depict our commitment to quality programming, our centers are engaged in Virginia’s Quality Rating Improvement System (VQ/VQB5) and are licensed by the Virginia Department of Social Services (VDSS).

Children’s Harbor is a full-day program with an education-based school year, before and after school care options, and an engaging summer camp. Our centers provide intentional age-appropriate instruction through the Frog Street Curriculum, a dual-language approach based in early brain research and designed to serve the unique needs of the children in our care.

On a monthly basis, we provide accessible, and low cost or no-cost trainings and professional development opportunities for early childhood professionals on a variety of pertinent topics. As the Regional Office for the Infant and Toddler Specialist Network (ITSN), we support two Infant and Toddler Specialists who provide on-site training, mentoring, and assessments to ensure infants and toddlers in the eastern region reach their developmental milestones and that their teachers are equipped and trained in the best early childhood and education practices.

Annually, we provide services to close to 500 individual children and families in Hampton Roads inclusive of over 100 Military families. Children's Harbor employs more than 100 staff and hosts over 50 volunteers each year. Our staff diversity reflects the children in our care as we strive to maintain our reputation of exceptional services and experiences in all facets of early care and education.

As we embark on this year’s annual giving campaign, we remain abundantly appreciative of the immense support of our Hampton Roads and Eastern Shore communities. Thank you in advance for your continued generosity to our worthy cause! 

Who We Are

Children's Harbor is a comprehensive early childhood agency operating in the South Hampton Roads area since 1911. In 1923, the corporation, a §501(c) (3) agency, became a certified member of the United Way of South Hampton Roads (UWSHR). From its modest beginnings as one small childcare facility, the agency has grown to currently operate four model early care and education centers; a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP); and a Community Training and Professional Development Program. Moreover, Children’s Harbor provides an Emergency Voucher Fund providing monetary assistance to maintain stability for children in early care and education settings for families experiencing a crisis, and Infant Toddler Specialists who ensure our region’s most vulnerable children are reaching developmental milestones. Our vision is advocating for access to quality early care and education for all children. Our mission statement is as follows: By providing places and programs, Children’s Harbor is the model for comprehensive programs.