At UPC Discovery Learning Center we value each child as a member of God’s diverse family.

What sets us apart…

UPC Discovery is a Gold Circle of Quality Center, recognized as an exemplary, high-quality, early care and education program by the Illinois Department of Human Services. You can check center ratings here.

UPC Discovery is the only early care and education program within 50 miles of Peoria to be fully accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Learn about what NAEYC accreditation means to us here!

UPC Discovery's outdoor area is a Certified Nature Explore Classroom. This 30-minute video, Discovering Nature Classrooms In Early Childhood, sponsored by the Illinois State Board of Education for Apples Video Magazine, shows our children, parents, UPC Discovery staff, and Nature Rangers sharing the benefits of the Nature Explore Outdoor Classroom over one year.

Our campus is also an official National Wildlife Habitat and a Monarch Way Station and the children learn about those programs.

Program Overview

Preschool (ages 3-5)

Half-day Program

  • 3-hour program four days a week (Monday - Thursday) from 8:30-11:30AM

Full-day Program

  • 5 days a week (Monday - Friday), 7 hours per day from 8:15 AM - 3:15PM

  • Optional before-care (7:00 to 8:15AM) and after-care (3:15 to 5:30PM)

Toddlers (ages 24-36 months)

Two-day Program

  • 2.5 hour program Mondays and Tuesdays from 9:00 - 11:30AM

We focus on engaging the whole child: their hearts, their bodies, and their imaginations. In our program, children engage and learn every day in four areas. Click the links to find out more.

Our Reggio-inspired environment encourages child-centered curriculum and invites young children to discover the world in a natural and authentic way.

Through in-depth project-based learning, children identify what they want to learn more about: flowers, ladybugs, emotions, medicine, reptiles, snowflakes, or anything else that captures their interests and imaginations. Teachers support children as they begin to form questions and guide them to discover the answers through their investigations. Teachers also use the classroom and outdoor environments to provoke new experiences and inspire learning.  Children will often spend time in the outside environments to discover more about topics that interest them, and sometimes the outside world is brought into the classroom.  Experts in the community are resources as the children investigate topics, and field site visits serve to deepen children’s understanding during project work.

Highly trained teachers document children’s learning, and children’s work is displayed in thoughtful and meaningful ways that communicate to families and visitors the learning taking place in the classroom.

If you would like more information about how to enroll your child, please visit our Enrollment page or you can email or call our director, Lora Taylor

Registration Schedule

  • Currently enrolled families: Registration opens January 8-25th

  • UPC member families: Registration opens January 8-25th

  • Alumni families: Registration opens January 18-25th

  • Community families: Registration opens January 26th

Find Out More!

If you’d like more information, please take a moment to fill out the contact form.

To start the enrollment process for your child(ren) head over to our Enrollment page.