fred roger center for early learning and children’s media
leading by learning and listening
The Fred Rogers Center embodies all that Fred Rogers, the man, stood for, cared about, and achieved. In fact, he was part of the planning process, as well as the guiding vision. Established in 2003, the Fred Rogers Center is a national and international leader in innovation and advocacy for early learning and children’s media, addressing emerging issues affecting children from birth through age five.
MISSION Staying true to the vision of Fred Rogers, and emulating the guiding principles of his life’s work, the mission of the Fred Rogers Center is to advance the fields of early learning and children’s media by acting as a catalyst for communication, collaborative, and creative change. To achieve that mission, this center creates, supports and houses an impressive range of resources for the wide array of individuals who touch and impact a child’s life.
THE WONDER OF FRED ROGERS Fred Rogers got it. He understood the sensitivities and needs of children, and the challenges that parents faced as they sought to help them grow. He knew that one person could make a profound difference in a child’s life. Fred Rogers set the highest possible standards for his work —standards that were based on the most careful academic rigor regarding children’s development, combined with the strong universal values he held and embodied. And as a pioneer in children’s media and the creator and star of the beloved PBS series, Mister Rogers Neighborhood, he reached and held a mass market of millions for decades. He did this because he truly met the developmental and educational needs of the children with the utmost honesty and integrity. Throughout his career, Fred Rogers amassed and created an incredible amount of information on early childhood development. He formed strong partnerships that supported and innovated early learning, and was quietly and subtly on the forefront of numerous early childhood initiatives. Today, his life’s work continues. Through a center that he helped create, designed to help adults—educators, academics, policy makers, media and technology designers and developers, early childhood care providers, or parents— choose, produce and utilize media to educate and support young children.
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Please think of the children first. If you ever have anything to do with their entertainment, their food, their toys, their custody, their day or night care, their education—listen to the children learn about them, learn from them. Fred Rogers
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THE FRED ROGERS CENTER FOR EARLY LEARNING AND CHILDREN’S MEDIA AT ST. VINCENT COLLEGE