Palo Alto · Licensed center
Downtown Children's Ctr
- Medium play-based center, licensed for 32 children.
- Run by a nonprofit. A board oversees it, and there are no owners taking profit.
What the state has found
The state cited rules at 1 of its 6 licensing inspections since November 2021.
Of the 29 Bay Area centers with 6 licensing inspections, 38% had rules cited at 1 of them, as this center did. 21% had none cited.
Licensing inspections
Sep 2, 20221 citation
“(a) Prior to, or within 30 calendar days following the enrollment of a child, the licensee shall obtain a written medical assessment of the child. This medical assessment enables the licensee to assess whether the center can provide necessary health-related services to the child. This requirement is not met as evidenced by: Based on record review, the licensee did not comply with the section cited above in that one of the ten children's files checked did not contain the required Physicians Report which poses a potential health, safety or personal rights risk to persons in care.”
CCR 101220(a)
Read every record and the state’s reports
State record — California CDSS Community Care Licensing
- Last visit
- November 4, 2025
- On file
- 6 visits since November 2021 — 5 cited nothing
- Most serious
- No finding carrying a severity level in the last 24 months.
California CDSS publishes the full investigation narrative for a complaint, including its disposition, and classifies a citation Type A — an immediate risk to a child — or Type B.
Sep 2022 Licensing visit 1 finding
Licensing visit · September 2, 2022
CCR 101220(a) · Type B
(a) Prior to, or within 30 calendar days following the enrollment of a child, the licensee shall obtain a written medical assessment of the child. This medical assessment enables the licensee to assess whether the center can provide necessary health-related services to the child. This requirement is not met as evidenced by: Based on record review, the licensee did not comply with the section cited above in that one of the ten children's files checked did not contain the required Physicians Report which poses a potential health, safety or personal rights risk to persons in care.
Shortlist replaces people’s names in the state’s text with initials. This is done by rule, not by hand, so it can miss a name or shorten a word that isn’t one. The state’s report, linked on each row, has the original.
Openings, child care subsidies, ratios and staff, a typical day, and sick and biting policies aren’t on this page.
How they teach
Play-based and developmental
“At PACCC, we believe in a whole-child approach to early education and care”
What it costs
$3,570 a month for an infant
Higher than 6 of 10 that publish a price.
Higher than 61% of the 36 that publish a price.
Downtown Children's CtrMost Bay Area prices (middle 80%)
- Part time
- $1,490 to $2,570 a month
- Application fee
- $25
A day here
- Calendar
- Year round
- Schedule
- Full Day, Part Day Long
Details
- Website
- paccc.org
- Address
- 555 Waverley Street
- License
- 435700790, active
Run Downtown Children's Ctr? Correct or add anything here, free.
Add what is missingSources and dates
Where every fact on this page came from, and when Shortlist last checked it against that source. Anything Shortlist could not source is named here rather than left blank.
How they teach
- Approach — Checked July 2026 paccc.org
What it costs
- Infant, Preschool, Second price, Application fee — Checked July 2026 paccc.org/…/tuition_itp_2026-2027_v2.pdf
State record
From California CDSS Community Care Licensing’s published reports, last checked October 10, 2026.
A day here
- Calendar — Checked July 2026 paccc.org
- Schedule — Checked July 2026 paccc.org/…/tuition_itp_2026-2027_v2.pdf
Details
- Phone, Address, License — Checked July 2026 ccld.dss.ca.gov
- Website — Checked July 2026 paccc.org
- Who runs it — Checked October 2026 ccld.dss.ca.gov
Medium means the middle half of Bay Area’s 439 licensed centers by state-licensed capacity: 31 to 75 children. Small is 8 to 30; large is 76 to 312.