This is Avery!

Our Story

Founded as Rich Family Day Care Home in October 1990, our organization has proudly served families in Sonoma County for more than three decades. In 1992, we expanded under the name Paideia Educational Heritage, growing into a large family child care home offering a full preschool program and a K–12 homeschool initiative. These early years established the educational philosophy and family-centered values that continue to guide our work today.

In 2017, our original family child care home was tragically destroyed during the Sonoma County firestorm. With resilience and unwavering dedication, we continued serving families under a six-month waiver at another licensed provider's home. When that waiver concluded, we embraced the opportunity not only to rebuild—but to reimagine our program with a stronger focus on community support.

On April 2, 2018, we reopened as Santa Rosa Rise and Shine Child Care Center, prioritizing high-quality infant care for infants and toddlers ages 2–24 months. Our new name represented a fresh beginning while honoring the strength of the community that helped us rise from adversity.

Later that year, we were awarded a facility grant to establish a permanent home. After two years of planning and dedication, we opened our first center in 2020 on the campus of Santa Rosa Nazarene Church and Happy Time Preschool—during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite unprecedented challenges, our doors remained open, providing families with safe, stable, and nurturing care when it was needed most.

Our journey of growth continued in October 2022 with the opening of our second Santa Rosa location in the Junior College District. That same year, we launched an in-house financial assistance program for income-eligible families, expanding access to high-quality early childhood education, especially in the area of infant care.

In early 2023, we embraced our broader mission by becoming Rise and Shine Child Care Centers & Family Services Agency. This transition reflected our expanding vision of not only providing exceptional early childhood education but also strengthening family support, community partnerships, and advocacy for young children.

In 2024, we further invested in families by providing CACFP meals, along with complimentary diapers and wipes for every enrolled child, helping reduce everyday expenses while supporting children's health and well-being.

By 2025, our commitment to excellence was recognized when we were nominated for the Press Democrat Reader's Choice "Best of the Best" Award. That same year, each of our three centers received a First 5 Sonoma County Grant, enabling us to expand developmental resources, strengthen family engagement, and invest in specialized learning environments, including sensory equipment, climbing structures, dramatic play materials, and age-appropriate classroom resources.

As our program continued to evolve, so did the funding landscape. Our in-house financial assistance program concluded on February 28, 2026. While we no longer administer a direct subsidy program, we remain committed to making quality early childhood education accessible by accepting private pay and a variety of community-based funding sources.

The summer of 2026 marked another exciting milestone in our journey. Responding to the needs of our community, Rise and Shine expanded once again by adding a Preschool Program to it’s Rohnert Park campus, allowing us to provide a seamless continuum of care from infancy through preschool. Today, our Santa Rosa centers continue specializing in infant and toddler care (2–24 months), while our Rohnert Park campus offers both Infant/Toddler Care and Preschool (ages 2 and up)—giving families the opportunity to remain in the same trusted, relationship-based learning community as their children grow.

Today, Rise and Shine proudly serves families across three Sonoma County locations, each sharing the same commitment to responsive relationships, developmental excellence, and family-centered care.

For more than 35 years, our mission has remained steadfast: to provide warm, nurturing, and developmentally enriching environments where children can build meaningful relationships, discover the joy of learning, and develop the confidence to thrive. As we continue to grow, we remain deeply grateful for the trust of the families we serve and look forward to building even brighter beginnings for generations to come.