Our Story

Learn about our history, from the early days in the 1980's at Aquinas College to our current campus on Jefferson Ave, right in the heart of Grand Rapids.

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The Reggio Emilia Approach

The Reggio Emilia approach is an innovative and inspiring approach to early childhood education. This educational philosophy is focused on preschool and primary education and is described as child centered and constructivist.

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Our Classrooms

Each classroom at the GREDC is thoughtfully structured to foster the development, thought and creativity of each child.

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What parents say about the GREDC

The child-centered mission and the dedication and expertise of the staff quickly made GREDC a second home for our son. We have learned positive parenting approaches simply from listening to staff/student interactions at drop off and pick up. All of the staff members are highly communicative, always honoring parent concerns and working with us and our child in productive ways. Most important to us, our son LOVES going to “school” each day! Having our son at GREDC is the best decision we could have made for his preschool experience.

Lisa

We love the team at EDC. The children have really connected with staff and other children and everyday explore and engage with something new. They are great partners with us as a family; helping our children grow and thrive. Keep on charging! We love what you all do, everyday!

Greg

The GREDC is filled with loving staff that really care about the development of your child. From the food they serve to the games they play, every lesson and every minute is planned intentionally to create an environment that brings the most our of them. I wish all preschools followed this approach!

Monica

We weren’t sure at first about the Reggio Emilia approach, but after doing our own research we found many examples of parents who believe this is one of the best models for early childhood education. And we couldn’t be happier that we made that choice! We’d seen our son blossom in amazing ways. Thank you GREDC!

Bryce

My favorite thing about our daughter attending the GREDC is the stories about her adventures in class each day. It’s truly a joy to hear her share how exciting it is to go to school each day and learn something new. The care and love of the teachers is evident!

Stephanie

See for yourself!

Take a virtual walk-through of our classrooms and hear from your child’s teachers on what makes the GREDC so special.

Sneak peek into our classrooms

101 Uses for a plate

Students identified 101 ways to use paper plates.

Lines

Students used wire, play-doh, wood, and more to explore lines of all shapes and sizes.

Boats

While the Vita Mia students have been following an interest in boats they have been exploring the properties of water, buoyancy, flow and motion.

Risky Play

Risky play in early childhood is an important way of encouraging children’s development of self-confidence, resilience, executive function abilities as well as risk management.

Lights

Tesoro has been playing around with a variety of lights. The children have been experimenting how different toys change color in the presence of the rope lights.

Music

Music can stimulate children’s natural curiosity and desire to learn as they explore the diversity, sounds, rhythms, and emotions of different music genres and instruments.

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Nondiscriminatory Policy: Grand Rapids Early Discovery Center admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs."