Creating a family environment

Begun in a building on Wahl Street that was built as a guys hang out, it was initially a place for women who attended trade school to drop off their children so they could work in place of men serving in the military during World War II, the Five Towns Early Learning Center in Inwood was started by a group of philanthropic Jewish women led by Gertrude Rieur.
Now celebrating its 75th year, the learning center has blossomed into a place, where kids from 18 months to 5 and a half receive an educational foundation through an accredited curriculum.
It is one of the longest existing child-care centers in Nassau County, according to Steven Spiro, president of Woodmere-based Five Towns Community Chest, one of the learning center’s primary sponsors. The Five Towns and Peninsula Kiwanis groups, the National Council of Jewish Women — Peninsula Section and the Town of Hempstead also support the center.
“The Five Towns Community Chest has been identifying and supporting agencies and affiliates in need in the Five Towns and surrounding areas for about 85 years,” Spiro said. “The Five Towns Early Learning Center has cared for children of working parents for almost as long. As a result of the great work done by Pepper Robinson and her team year in and out, and the need for funds for them to continue their work, the Five Towns Community Chest is proud to provide continued support.”
Robinson, the executive director for the past decade, took the reins from Bernice Levin who directed the learning center from 1973-2004. Levin got the center accredited with the National Association for the Education of Young Children, a national nonprofit organization that is focused on improving the well-being of young children, with particular emphasis on the quality of educational and developmental services for children from birth through age 8.