Hillside Early Childhood Center

What Hillside Early Childhood Center does

Hillside Early Childhood Center is a nonprofit early childhood education center founded in 2018 and located at 1700 Woodland Avenue in Southeast Austin, Texas. It serves children ages 6 weeks through 5 years with a play-based, developmentally appropriate curriculum delivered year-round by qualified teachers across infant, toddler, and preschool classrooms. The center holds NAEYC Accredited+ status (overall score over 95%, Program Observation score 100%) — a credential held by fewer than 10% of programs nationwide and by only 510 licensed centers in Texas — and is a Texas Rising Star 4-Star provider. Its campus is certified as a Natural Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation and the Texas Conservation Alliance, and it operates in a documented Southeast Austin childcare desert where it currently serves 90 students against 175 families on a waitlist, with stated physical capacity of 120 students. About 20% of enrolled students receive scholarships.

The center is operated by a lean leadership team — Head of School Suzanne Garza, Director of Education Alana Dias, and Head of Business & Operations Melissa Jones — supported by Friends of Hillside, a multi-generational community fundraising organization that runs signature events such as Hillside Under the Stars and underwrites the scholarship pool. Hillside's revenue is generated through full-time, year-round tuition (pricing is not publicly disclosed), supplemented by donations processed via Blackbaud and grants/subsidies through Workforce Solutions Capital Area (CCS funding) for eligible families. Its underlying technology stack is non-proprietary and consists of Brightwheel for daily parent communication, Teaching Strategies for child documentation and ASQ assessments, Google Calendar for scheduling, and an Amazon Wishlist for in-kind donations. Enrollment is direct-to-consumer through a waitlist on the school website, with seasonal Open Houses serving as the primary mid-funnel touchpoint; word-of-mouth and community events are the dominant marketing channels, and the center does not actively market due to capacity-constrained demand.

Name

Hillside Early Childhood Center

Legal name

Hillside Early Childhood Center

Website

https://hillsideecc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hillside Early Childhood Center is a nonprofit NAEYC Accredited+ and Texas Rising Star 4-Star early childhood education center in Southeast Austin, Texas, serving 90 children ages 6 weeks to 5 years with play-based, year-round curriculum and operating a 175-family waitlist.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early Childhood Education Services

NAICS

Child Care Services (62441), Child Care Services (6244), Educational Services (61)

SIC

Services-Child Day Care Services (8351), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDACABAL

Preschool Programs within Childcare Centers

Education/Early Childhood Education/Preschools & Pre-K Programs

SECONDARYEDACAAAG

Toddler-Focused Childcare Centers

Education/Early Childhood Education/Daycare & Childcare Centers

SECONDARYEDACABAA

General Preschools (Play-Based)

Education/Early Childhood Education/Preschools & Pre-K Programs

SECONDARYBPAGADAA

Early Childhood Education & Childcare Nonprofits

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Education & Youth Development Nonprofits

Keywords

• Early childhood education
• Infant and toddler care
• Preschool programs
• Play-based curriculum
• NAEYC accredited center

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Tuition and fees: Full-time, year-round early childhood care and education for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years. Revenue is generated through tuition payments from families. The center accepts Workforce/CCS (Child Care Services) funding for eligible families.
2. Donations and fundraising: Friends of Hillside, a multi-generational community group, raises funds to support and enrich early childhood education. The school also holds an annual fundraiser 'Hillside Under the Stars.' About 20% of students are on scholarship, partially funded by these donations.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Hillside Early Childhood Center delivers full-time, year-round early childhood education and care for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old at its Woodland Campus in Austin, Texas. The center offers a play-based, developmentally appropriate curriculum across infant, toddler, and preschool classrooms, led by qualified teachers in a NAEYC Accredited+ and Texas Rising Star 4-Star environment. Revenue is generated through family tuition, Workforce/CCS subsidies for eligible families, and donations raised by the Friends of Hillside community organization.

Product overview

Hillside Early Childhood Center offers a unified early childhood education service with a play-based, developmentally appropriate curriculum for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old. The core offerings include infant care, toddler, and preschool programs, all delivered year-round by highly qualified teachers. Supplementary services include family communication via Brightwheel and Teaching Strategies assessments, along with community engagement through the Friends of Hillside organization. The center is NAEYC Accredited+ and Texas Rising Star 4-Star certified.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Early Childhood Education Services Year-round, full-time early childhood education and care for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old, delivered through a play-based and developmentally appropriate curriculum at the Woodland Campus in Austin, Texas. NAEYC Accredited+ and Texas Rising Star 4-Star certified.
• Infant Care Program

Quantifiable outcome

• NAEYC Accreditation with overall score over 95% and Program Observation score of 100%
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Workforce Solutions Capital AreaminorOthersHillside is a Workforce Solutions vendor, accepting Child Care Services (CCS) funding for eligible families. Workforce Solutions Capital Area is the leadership and governing body for the regional workforce system, offering free Parent Trainings throughout the year.
• Any Baby CanminorOthersAny Baby Can is listed as a community connection resource, providing parent education, family health and child development programs in Central Texas. Hillside connects families to this resource.
• National Wildlife FederationminorOthersHillside campus is certified as a Natural Wildlife Habitat through the National Wildlife Federation, providing quality habitat (food, water, cover) for wildlife.
• Texas Conservation AllianceminorOthersHillside campus is also certified through the Texas Conservation Alliance, complementing the National Wildlife Federation wildlife habitat certification.
• Good Shepherd Episcopal SchoolminorOthersListed as a founding member of Friends of Hillside, a community fundraising group supporting the school.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Boys & Girls Clubs of the Austin Area: Austin-area nonprofit youth development organization offering after-school and summer programs for children and teens. Comparable as a regional youth-serving nonprofit with community fundraising and donor-supported programming, though focused on older children.
• Any Baby Can: Austin-based nonprofit providing parent education, family health, and child development programs. Already listed as a community connection partner for Hillside, with directly comparable Central Texas mission and parent/child development focus.

Direct peers

• Extend-A-Care: Austin-area nonprofit providing before/after school care and early childhood education programs. Directly comparable as a similarly mission-driven ECE nonprofit serving Central Texas families with subsidized and tuition-funded slots.
• Child Inc: Austin-based Head Start and Early Head Start provider serving low-income families with young children. Closely comparable as a nonprofit ECE operator in the same Austin market with subsidy-funded families and accreditation-driven programming.

Broad incumbents

• Primrose Schools: National franchise network of accredited early childhood education schools emphasizing play-based and developmentally appropriate curriculum. Comparable in educational philosophy and accredited-center positioning.
• Bright Horizons Family Solutions: Large publicly traded operator of high-quality early childhood education centers across the U.S. Comparable as a premium, accredited ECE provider serving working families and employer-sponsored clients, though at much larger scale and for-profit.
• The Goddard School: Franchise-based accredited early childhood education provider for infants through pre-K. Comparable as a play-based, accredited private ECE operator serving similar age groups and family demographics.
• Guidepost Montessori: National accredited Montessori and early childhood education network serving infants through elementary students. Comparable as a multi-site accredited ECE provider with a defined curriculum philosophy.
• KinderCare Learning Centers: One of the largest private ECE operators in the U.S., offering infant care through school-age programs. Comparable in core service offering (full-time, year-round accredited early childhood education) but operating at national for-profit scale.
• Cadence Education: Large private operator of early childhood education centers across the U.S., focused on infant care through pre-K. Comparable as a scaled accredited ECE provider with similar age-segment offering.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@HillsideEarlyChildhoodCenter
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hillside-early-childhood-center
• Instagraminstagram.com/hillsideecc

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hillside Early Childhood Center