The Donald S. Collins
Early Learning Center
Located in the heart of Black Mountain, NC, we are a community-based early learning program serving children and families from 6:30 am until 5:30 pm Monday through Friday.
The Donald S. Collins
Early Learning Center
The Board of Directors, administrators, and teaching staff are excited about our new location off Montreat Road, at 120 West Street, Black Mountain, NC (behind the First Baptist Church).
We serve infants through pre-K, and also offer afterschool and summer enrollment for Kindergartners through 2nd grade. Our staff provide a quality early childhood education that each child deserves as they prepare for kindergarten. Families are a child’s first teacher, but partnered with our staff we hope to provide a warm, caring, and positive full-day early learning experience. We value each child and family, and our doors are always open to you so that together we will learn and grow together. We are excited to serve you and your child!
Contact director Monnie Wright at (828) 669-6617 or by email to director.collinselc@gmail.com for a tour and more information.
Our Family.
Our Community.
We support families in the Swannanoa Valley and surrounding areas who need quality care and education, prior to kindergarten, for their young children. We provide an enriching environment for children benefiting their social, emotional, physical, cognitive, and language and literacy development. Our program supports all families and children, creating an inclusive, diverse and welcoming environment.
Purposeful, Intentional Play.
Exploring
Play is exploring, figuring out how things work, how they fit together (why do magnets pick up some items and not others?).
Active
Play is active. Children crawling, toddling, walking, running, and climbing are happy, exploring, and learning children.
Creative
Play is creative as children pretend, paint, draw, build with blocks (some blocks stack and balance and some fall).
Interaction
Play is interaction with others, growing socially responsive skills (learning empathy, concern, good social manners and skills).
Opportunity
Play is opportunity for children to make choices and practice decision making skills (If I take all the crayons and no one else gets to color, they are not happy).
Freeing
Play is freeing and delightful, full of laughter, and making sounds and beginning to make words. (I can hear the difference in sounds in mat and bat).
Experiences
Play offers experiences in both positive and negative feelings with others (I like when my friends play with me; they don’t like it when I take their toys).
Positivity
Play gives children feelings of a positive self-concept.
(I like to play with friends and I like me.)
Donald S. Collins Early Learning Center
120 West Street
P.O. Box 835
Black Mountain, NC 28711
(828) 669-6617