1973 Harbor Child Care was established in Sea Cliff, NY.It is a not-for-profit child care agency licensed by New York State Department of Children and Family Services and governed by a volunteer Board of Directors.

1978 Harbor purchased a turn of the century landmark building located in the Village of Sea Cliff. The child care program became a model for day care centers throughout the county and the state.

1981 At the invitation of the Superintendent of the Herricks School District Harbor Child Care was asked to replicate the Sea Cliff child care model at the Herricks Community Center. Harbor Child Care at Herricks has become a comprehensive model child care facility, providing year-round programs for 300 infants, toddlers, pre-schoolers, and school age children.

1984 Recognizing that there was no college in Long Island that offered training and certification in infant care, Harbor Child Care founded the Training Institute for Infant Care Givers. Over 400 child care teachers have been trained in this program that is designed to teach how an infant learns and how to provide nurturing and appropriate infant care.

1985 Harbor's Executive Director, Jill Rooney created the Medical Advisory Board for Child Care Centers and Nursery Schools (now a part of the Child Care Council). this group of community health care providers - pediatricians and pediatric nurses - was gathered to monitor the health and safety practices of child care facilities and nursery schools. The Board hosted the first county wide conference on infectious diseases in child care settings.

1988 With the understanding that a low teacher turnover rate in child care was a critical element to maintaining quality, Jill Rooney, Harbor's Executive Director organized Day Care Directors to work with Nassau County Executive Thomas Gulotta and the Nassau County Board of Supervisors to create a salary enhancement program for the purpose of attracting and keeping qualified teachers.



1991 Harbor became the first child care center in Nassau County to be accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs.

1993 At the invitation of the North Shore University Hospital Center in Manhasset, Harbor opened its third center to serve the needs of employees.

1995 The fourth Harbor Child Care center was opened in the town of Glen Head providing a strong before and after school program in addition to the pre-school age programs.
Harbor's Executive Director, Jill Rooney spearheaded the formation of the Nassau County Coalition for Child Care to increase public awareness of the need for community-based quality child care by forming an alliance of individuals and organizations whose mission it is to provide and improve child care.

1996 Harbor Child Care was the first child care agency on Long Island to successfully open a special class in an integrated setting, main streaming children who have been determined to have special needs.

1998 Harbor Child Care opened its Hempstead Center in a unique partnership with the Sheldrake Organization, which built a child care facility in their Rivoli Housing complex to serve 100 families in the village of Hempstead

After touring Harbor's Hempstead Center, Elizabeth McCaul, Acting Superintendent of Banks for the State of New York, issued a letter to the chief executive officers of banking institutions in the state urging the industry to play an enhanced role in the development and support of child care programs. She detailed a new "Adopt a Center" initiative, under which New York State banks earn Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) credit while supporting child care facilities.

Harbor Child Care was selected as a Department of Health Model Site demonstrating. how all different disciplines dealing with your children could successfully work together.



1999 Harbor Child Care was selected from a wide range of child care providers to establish a child care center for 222 infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers for the employees of Cable vision, Inc. Woodbury.

2000 Harbor Child Care once again leads Nassau County Child Care Providers in the battle to retainSalary Enhancement in the wake of massive county budget cuts. Jill Rooney spearheaded a grass roots campaign which addressed the critical need for qualified child care providers and equitable compensation to be paid.

2001 In her ongoing effort to advocate on behalf of children, Jill Rooney formed a Task Force of 21 Nassau County agencies to deal with the roots of child violence, "Task Force Against Childhood Violence". The Task Force's first event was a conference, 'The Roots of Violence", on April 2, 2001 at Adelphi University. The purpose of the conference and the Task Force's 3-year campaign is to promote assessment, identify positive programs for treatment and educate the public about the roots of violence.

The Child Care Council of Nassau, Inc. and NAEYC names Jill Rooney "Child Advocate of the Year" for her continued professional commitment to the child care industry.

2002 Jill Rooney is selected by State Senator Michael Balboni as a New York State Woman of Distinction and honored by the New York State Senate in Albany

2003 Harbor begins its 30th year providing Child care.
Sea Cliff center is awarded National Accreditation and begins to offer Mommy & Me programs. Jill Rooney is selected one of the 50 top female executives on Long Island by the Long Island Business Review.