Welcome to Verner
Verner Center for Early Learning is a nonprofit agency providing high quality, affordable early care and education to over 300 children – birth to five years old – throughout Buncombe County, North Carolina. Through holistic learning environments, we strive to help build a community where every child and family has the opportunity to thrive.
With two centers in Buncombe County and a home-based Early Head Start Program, our current program offerings by center are summarized below. Click the program links for more information.
Our Programs |
Verner East |
Verner Central |
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The Four Cornerstones of Our Philosophy
There are four cornerstones to our philosophy that we use to accomplish our mission: High Quality Education, Family Services, Health and Nutrition Services and Teacher Education.High Quality Early Childhood Education...
for children ages 0-5 characterized by low child-to-staff ratios, multi-age classrooms, and a dedicated, nurturing staff; our blended program serves children of all socio-economic statuses, cultures and abilities. We incorporate emergent curriculum and provide individualized and diverse learning environments so children remain actively engaged in learning. All children have necessary experiences before entering kindergarten.
Family Services for Parents and Caregivers...
for parents and other caregivers including classes, individual consultation and referrals to other community agencies. We believe it is equally important to support the families of the children we serve and build strong relationships with them. We highly value collaboration between families, communities and schools. Staff work in partnership with other social service agencies to link families to support self-sufficiency and independence. Our family service specialists work with families to help them set and meet family goals and objectives such as finding employment or balancing their budget. They link families to community agencies to provide key services for their children and family. Our Family Empowerment Program was founded to encourage and support our families in continuing their education and breaking the cycle of poverty. The Family Engagement Team builds strong relationships with participants and supports them by: helping them set educational goals, access financial aid and tuition assistance and provide one-on-one counseling, a critical component to their educational success.
Health and Nutrition Services for Children...
for children, including annual dental, vision, speech, hearing, and developmental screenings. Our nutrition program, Rainbow in My Tummy®, ensures that children are eating healthy, balanced meals that include a variety of proteins, fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains. The health and nutrition services provided are particularly important to our low income children who may not have access to nutrient rich foods, or regular health screenings. We also seek to reach beyond our doors and advocate for the health and well-being of young children. Our nutrition program, Rainbow in My Tummy®, was so beneficial to the children we served at our centers, that we have replicated the program in 15 additional early care and education centers.
Teacher Education...
for professionals in the field of early childhood development, as well as college students pursuing a career in teaching, social work or nonprofit management are critical to the high standards demanded of our programming. Our teaching and administrative staff are well trained in their fields and are offered professional development opportunities and educational support to ensure they are on the cutting edge in their fields. Our founders wanted us to be a leader in the field of early care and education and wanted us to model best practices to others. We provide a teacher mentoring program for our educators to increase their knowledge in the field and then model best practices to others on staff. We also invite other early care and education staff and community members to tour our centers and participate in our trainings and then implement strategies into their early care and education center.
