Preparing your child for a limitless future.
Who We Are
The Friends of Crown Heights Educational Centers Inc., (FOCH), is a New York State registered 501(C)3 not-for-profit, community-based organization, with headquarters located at 671 Prospect Place, Brooklyn, NY 11216.
At Friends of Crown Heights, we are committed to fostering the healthy development of every child in our care. To accomplish this, our dedicated staff of fully licensed and professional educators and caregivers have developed a comprehensive curriculum that nurtures the emotional, social, cognitive and physical development of each child. We also offer a richly multicultural learning environment that reflects the diverse cultural heritage of the families we serve. In addition to our African American and Latinx children, more than half of the families we serve are first-generation immigrants from the Anglophone Caribbean, Haiti, Africa and Asia. At our Coney Island Center in South Brooklyn, more than 95 percent of our children are Chinese.
Reflecting this amazing diversity, our professional staff at Friends of Crown Heights work closely with our families to incorporate into the curriculum many of the cultural traditions of the surrounding community, including such celebrations as Kwanzaa, Juneteenth, the Chinese Lunar New Year, Caribbean Labor Day Carnival and of course, our many American national holidays. At our Coney Island Center, where the population is primarily Mandarin Chinese, Chinese foster grandparents provide daily classroom support by reading to the children, suggesting native menu selections, encouraging the children to try unfamiliar foods and serving as interpreters for parent-teacher conferences. Our multilingual, multicultural professional staff are also able to provide these critical functions throughout the FOCH network.
Although most of our group centers are located in working-class communities and areas of moderate need, FOCH serves children and families across the economic spectrum; we accept a variety of payment plans including vouchers, subsidies and private imbursements.
To locate and visit a Friends of Crown Heights Center near you, use the locator tool on this web site or call us at (718) 638-8686. We look forward to seeing you soon!