UCCC is thankful for our partnerships in the community. Their support helps us realize our dream of creating a truly unique and high-quality early childhood program.
LUME Institute
More than a partnership, LUME Institute is an integral part of University City Children's Center. LUME evolved from the values, philosophy and methodologies embodied by UCCC in 2010. UCCC serves as the founding school, living model and lab school for LUME’s Inside-Out Approach. LUME brings that model to other organizations involved in early childhood education through courses and coaching that develop teachers, administrators and families.
Youth In Need
While friends for decades, UCCC became an official part of the Youth In Need family of programs in February 2025. Youth In Need is dedicated to building positive futures for the community’s most vulnerable children, teens and families.
Early Head Start and Head Start
Effective January 2007, UCCC became a partner with the YWCA Head Start Program and in 2016, UCCC became a partner with Youth In Need’s Early Learning Programs. In 2025, with the completion of our merger with Youth In Need, UCCC continues to provide Head Start and Early Head Start slots to qualified families under the Youth In Need umbrella.
St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute
UCCC and LUME Institute have longstanding partnerships with St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute. Several UCCC staff and teachers have completed the St. Louis Psychoanalytic Child Development Program. The St. Louis Psychoanalytic Institute supports UCCC’s ongoing Healthy Minds for the Future program. This partnership began in 2000.
Agency Membership and Partnership
UCCC is a member agency of United Way of Greater St. Louis and of Variety the Children’s Charity of St. Louis, and a partner agency of St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund.
Special School District: Vocational Skills Program
UCCC has partnered with Special School District’s Vocational Skills Program since 2006. Each new school year, up to six students attend the program at UCCC. These students handle all UCCC’s laundry, assist in the kitchen, organize and maintain UCCC’s library, help with meeting set-up and sanitize and clean as needed throughout UCCC.
The Vocational Skills Program’s mission is to provide a continuum of supports and services to students and families to assist the students in gaining skills needed to achieve realistic and meaningful post-secondary goals.
Practicum Students
UCCC partners with a number of local universities, including Webster University, Fontbonne University, St. Louis University and Washington University, to support practicum students. These students may observe or work with small groups of children in the classroom. These students are background-checked and TB-tested before working with our students. UCCC children are never left alone with these students.