Our Focus, Our Goal, Our Commitment
We are admonished to teach the words of Holy Script "diligently unto thy children," and to "train up a child in the way he should go" (Matthew 6:33, Deuteronomy 6:7, and Proverbs 22:6, KJV).
Welcome to the North American Division Early Childhood Education website. The formative years (birth to five years-old) is the most important phase of development in a child’s life. During the early years, children take the first steps in a lifelong learning journey.
The North American Division of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (NAD) Office of Education provides and supports Early Childhood leadership to 9 unions across the division. The early childhood program has an advisory board that includes the early childhood associate director from each union, chaired by the NAD Director for Early Childhood. One of our primary functions is to create resources, such as curriculum, learning standards and Standards for Accreditation tools for our early childhood learning centers, preschools and PreKindergarten classrooms.
We focus on early childhood development with a Seventh-day Adventist Philosophy. We believe in the holistic development of the child – spiritual, mental, physical, social and emotional. Our Christ-center programs allow children to experience the joy of learning at their own pace, through indoor age-appropriate activities and outdoor play. Our programs are filled with Bible based instruction and are enriched with music, art, movement and activities that stimulate the brain.
Our goal is to provide age-appropriate practices for more than 6,000 young children across the division, while equipping over 1,040 teachers to provide sound educational experiences in all developmental domains. As a system we strive to empower the early childhood program directors and teachers by providing trainings to equip them to better serve the parents and children in their communities.
We are committed to making a positive impact in our children’s lives by helping cultivate environments which will nourish their natural love for learning and allow them to reach their full potential and develop into self-confident and responsible children. It is with humble hearts that we as an advisory help lay the first stones in our children’s educational foundation so they can begin the journey to excellence.
In His Service,
Evelyn M. Sullivan, M.Ed.
Director for Early Childhood Education
North American Division Union Advisory
Evelyn Sullivan, Director of ECE
Atlantic Union
Marlene Alvarez, ECE Associate Director
SDA Church in Canada
Shad Lehmann, ECE Associate Director
Columbia Union
Alison Jobson, ECE Associate Director
Lake Union
Sue Tidwell, ECE Associate Director
Mid-America Union
LouAnn Howard, ECE Associate Director
North Pacific Union
Carisa Carr, ECE Associate Director
Pacific Union
Julie Yamada, ECE Associate Director
Southern Union
Tamara Libonati, ECE Associate Director
Southwestern Union
Ellen Thomas, ECE Associate Director
Early Childhood Education
“It is during the first years of a child’s life that his [her] mind is most susceptible to impressions either good or evil.” Ellen G. White, Child Guidance, p. 193
Where Education Begins
Our Mission
To provide young children with Christ-centered, developmentally-appropriate experiences in safe, nurturing environments that are aligned with the beliefs and values of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.