Contreras Family Child Care Wonderschool

Our Teachers

Hello! I am Maria (“Elsa”) Contreras, the founder of Contreras Family Child Care Wonderschool. I was inspired to start my own program because it has always been my dream to design my own space where children can blossom and grow. I have 25 years of experience working with young children.

My previous experience includes serving as an educator at Dreamland Preschool, Santa Monica Home Sweet Home and Culver City Learning Knowledge Corporation. I have also worked at Rialto La Petite Academy and Rialto Delta Sigma Theta State Preschool in Culver City. I finally decided to open my own family child care program because I truly love working with children and wanted to provide high-quality care for my community.

I believe as an early childhood educator I am responsible for providing infants, toddlers, and young children with positive learning experiences. My role as a teacher is to be a facilitator and provide enriching activities so that children are supported as they learn about their strengths and work on their weaknesses. As a facilitator, I support children as they embark on a journey to make discoveries about themselves and learn to recognize and name their feelings. Lastly, my goal as an educator is to provide children with a rich environment where they feel safe to explore, initiate learning and feel free to express themselves.

Testimonials

“I have been with Contreras child care for several years. It is the best child care I found. Elsa is very professional, nice, and most of all takes pride in what she does. My children are well taken care of. I have never had any problems with her. The place is very clean , organized, friendly, and what I love about Elsa is that she goes beyond her job to make my children comfortable. I recommend this daycare to everyone. Also she is very attentive to all the kids. She does her best in recommending things or activities for your children. No complaints ever; kids are happy at her center. It really looks and feels like a school. Good job Mrs Contreras.. thank you for your service.” - Karyna C.

“I live in the neighborhood and I was looking for a childcare for my 2 year old. The first thing that noticed was that it is located in a quiet low traffic street which is a big plus. I checked it out and I have nothing but wonderful things to say, the place was clean and to my surprise the place looked like a small preschool and it has a huge backyard. Ms. Contreras who is the owner took the time to show me her menu and the curriculum which includes enriching activities for the kids. My son loved the place as much as did that he didn’t even want to leave. The thing that I liked the most is that Ms. Contreras makes you feel at home and she had a friendly, yet professional attitude.” -Nayely D.

Philosophy

Welcome to Contreras Family Child Care! Here, we offer a safe, nurturing environment where your child will get the attention and care that he or she needs. Our ratio of children to adults is always within state guidelines - and often even lower - to make certain each child receives top-quality care.

As a state licensed family child care facility, we always meet and exceed all health and safety guidelines.

At Contreras Family Child Care, your child will participate in developmentally-appropriate activities throughout the day, such as:

• Story time
• Puzzles and games
• Arts and crafts
• Music
• Pre-reading activities
• Physical activities
• Science & math
• …and much more!

You can rest assured that your child will be cared for with the utmost kindness, love and respect. We believe all children are precious gifts and we treat them as though they are our own.

Location

Contreras Family Child Care Wonderschool is located in an inviting, spacious single family home in the Los Angeles neighborhood.

Children will have some outdoor time every day in my private backyard. I believe that connecting with nature lets children gain deeper knowledge of themselves and the world.

Admissions

Join the Contreras Family Child Care Wonderschool community in four easy steps:

1. Explore our website

We’ve provided information about our philosophies and offerings to help you decide if our program may be right for your family.

2. Tour our program

Come see what makes Contreras Family Child Care Wonderschool unique. If we are currently hosting tours, you can request or schedule a tour at the top of this page. If we are not currently hosting tours, you’ll see a “Request Info” button at the top of this page; if you submit your information using this button, we will notify you when we start host tours again in the future.

3. Submit an Enrollment Application

If you would like to enroll, please submit an application. Please note that we require tours for all prospective families. Please do not submit an application if you have not visited the program.

4. Enroll

After reviewing your application, we’ll send an enrollment invitation. Upon accepting your invitation you’ll pay your enrollment fee, fill out enrollment documents and review our Parent Handbook.