Welcome to a Very Special Place
When you’re thinking about leaving your child in someone else’s care, you want to know that they have experience. Well, no one in the Portland area has more experience caring for children than Fruit & Flower. In fact, we’ve been doing it since 1906. That’s just one of the reasons why we’re one of the most respected child development centers in the area.

Located in Northwest Portland, Fruit & Flower cares for children ranging from six weeks to five years old. Our play-based curriculum is built around the needs and interests of the kids and is designed to change as they do. We believe in nurturing the growth of the whole child — emotional, social, physical and intellectual. So, Fruit & Flower kids are placed in groups based on their individual stage of development rather than their biological age. Years of experience has shown us that this approach results in a well-rounded child who is ready to excel in kindergarten and beyond.
Fruit & Flower Welcomes New Executive Director
The Board of Directors of Fruit & Flower Child Care Center announces that Rhonda McDowall has accepted the position of Executive Director. Rhonda begins her tenure at Fruit & Flower on January 19, 2010.

Rhonda comes to Fruit & Flower with a passion for working with children and vast experience in early childhood education and nonprofit organizational development. Rhonda will be instrumental to continuing the legacy of Fruit & Flower and helping to fulfill our 100+ year mission "to provide high quality, early childhood care and education for children whose parents are employed, in school or in training, or are looking for work, regardless of their ability to pay."

Rhonda is deeply rewarded by her work in childcare and developing relationships with families, children and staff. She has 17 years of experience developing programs in early childhood education and has held high levels of leadership at the YMCA of Columbia-Willamette. There she oversaw expansion of the child care division to 16 centers and created consistent standards of care throughout the centers.

The Board of Directors is pleased to have such a highly qualified leader for our center and staff in this new decade. The future of Fruit & Flower is bright, and the Board is thankful to have such a large and supportive community with which to share this news.
Fruit & Flower Centennial Video
In celebration of our recent 100-year anniversary, we asked Bill Aylward of Fred + Ethel to produce a video for us. Bill created a wonderful piece infused with the wildly infectious spirit of Fruit & Flower. Please take the time to take a look. It requires the Quicktime Player 6, a free download which is available here. With a file size of 20M it is pretty hefty for those of you on dial-up modems. But believe us, it is well worth the wait.

Click to view the centennial video.
Fruit & Flower News
Enrollment Information We enroll children in our program throughout the year and may have openings in your child's age group. Please click on this link to download the Waitlist Application Form.
Call Judi Gilles at (503) 228-8349 for information, or to sign up for our monthly tours.

Emergency Closure Information Click here for current information in case of weather closures or other emergencies.

Footsteps: The Fruit & Flower seasonal newsletter Winter 2009 Newsletter
Fall 2008 Newsletter
Spring 2008 Newsletter
Winter 2007 Newsletter
Spring 2006 Newsletter
Summer 2005 Newsletter
Spring 2005 Newsletter

Happenings: The Fruit & Flower monthly newsletter January 2010
December 2009
October/November 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009

Fruit & Flower Calendar Download 2010 calendar