Employment Centre

Early Childhood Education—Tropicana Black Fast-Track

The Early Childhood Education (ECE) Tropicana Black Fast Track program is a fully funded cohort of the Centennial College ECE diploma, which is open to Black learners from the Greater Toronto Area. It is run in partnership by Centennial College and Tropicana Community Services.

Program Details:

School: School of Community and Health Studies
Credential: Centennial College Diploma
Program Length: 4 semesters
Delivery: In-person/Full-time

Career Opportunities for Graduates:

As a graduate from the Early Childhood Education program you will be qualified to work:

With children and families in childcare centres.
In full-day learning classrooms within the Boards of Education.
With children and families in drop-in centres, shelters and community service programs.
Opening your own home childcare in accordance with legislative requirements.

Program Details:

As a student in the Early Childhood Education program, you’ll learn to provide high standards of care to children and their families. This highly regarded program will teach you to take responsibility for observing the needs of individual and groups of children, and to create well-planned, stimulating and responsive programs. You’ll come to understand the needs of infants, toddlers, preschool, and school-aged children. Rich classroom experiences will offer you a range of opportunities to understand the content as professors employ a variety of strategies that will allow you to practice and apply what you learn. Supporting this program are Centennial College’s two state-of-the-art early childhood education centres. Used as labs, these centres, located in East York and at Progress Campus, will allow you observe and/or practice in a high-quality childcare setting. Upon graduation you will have learned to:
- Design curriculum for child-centered, play-based learning
- Support children’s learning and development by responding to their unique needs and interests
- Build caring relationships with children, families, and communities
- Create safe, healthy and inclusive early learning environments
You will complete your fully funded ECE diploma in two years.
You’ll experience practical experiential learning through three field placements in the community, working directly with infants or toddlers, pre-school and school-aged children.
Qualified and experienced supervisors will support you during the field placement to ensure your learning is optimized.
During the third or fourth semesters, opportunities will be available to work in full-day kindergarten environments.
In semesters 3 and 4, a block placement will be incorporated to maximize your ability to solidify skills.
This program is committed to respond to and reflect current trends and directions in the field and profession.
Highly skilled faculty will create stimulating learning opportunities in the classroom that will address a range of learning styles.

Requirements:

To apply, you must be 19 years or older by September 1, 2025, and you will require the following to be included in your application:

Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD), or equivalent, or mature student status (19 years or older)
Grade 12 English (C or U), or equivalent (minimum grade required), or take a Centennial English Admission Test
English language proficiency
Prior to beginning each Field Placement, students are required to:
- Obtain a clear police background check with vulnerable sector
- Provide valid First Aid and CPR certificates before the beginning of the second semester
- Provide a clear medical report including a TB test

Field Placement Requirements

After admission, prior to beginning each field placement, students are required to:

Obtain a clear police background check with vulnerable sector screening
Provide valid first aid and CPR certificates before the beginning of second semester
Provide a clear medical report, including a TB test

Program Vocational Learning Outcomes

Create learning contexts to enable, build and maintain caring, responsive relationships in partnerships with children, families and communities that value and respect social, cultural and linguistic diversity including Indigenous peoples’ worldviews and Francophone identity.
Co-create, facilitate and reflect upon inquiry and play-based early years and child care programs and pedagogical approaches to support children’s learning, holistic development and well-being following children’s capabilities, interests, ideas and experiences.
Co-design and maintain inclusive early learning environments to value and support equitable, accessible and meaningful learning opportunities for all children, their families and communities in a range of early years and child care settings.
Collaborate with children, families, colleagues, agencies and community partners to create, maintain, evaluate and promote safe and healthy early learning environments to support independence, reasonable risk-taking and healthy development and well-being.
Use observation strategies to identify children’s strengths and challenges and to ascertain when children and families might benefit from additional support or community resources.
Use professional communication in interactions with children, families, colleagues, employers, the regulatory body, government authorities and children’s service agencies to meet legal and ethical standards of the early years sector.
Act in accordance with relevant legislation, regulations, College of Early Childhood Educators Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, agency policies and procedures and principles of evidence-informed practice and reflect upon their impact on one’s own role in early years and child care settings.
Identify, report and document when a child is in a situation of perceived risk of, or actual neglect or abuse, in accordance with legislation, the College of Early Childhood Educators Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice, policies and procedures.
Create and engage in partnerships with families, communities, colleagues, interdisciplinary professionals, authorities and child service agencies to advocate for quality early years and child care programs and services.
Engage in reflective practice and continuous professional learning in accordance with principles of lifelong learning, evidence-informed practices in the early years sector and requirements of the College of Early Childhood Educators.
Engage with Indigenous children, families and communities to co-create, implement and evaluate Indigenous early years and child care and child and family programs and environments that are culturally sensitive and culturally relevant to the communities they serve.
Create innovative and responsive care-giving environments that acknowledge the contextual traditions of the child, family and community.