Early Learning Center
Vision and Mission
Phase One-- Outdoor Inclusive Play Center
Phase Two-- Indoor Inclusive Play Center
Anchorage Key Nonprofit Partners
Invitation to Partner With Us
The Alaska Jewish Campus/Gan Yeladim Early Learning Center has begun construction on the first all-inclusive early childhood play center in Alaska! After more than 3 decades of providing high-quality early childhood education to the Alaskan community, we have identified special needs children in this age range as an underserved group.
In response, we will soon proudly open the outdoor playground (Phase 1) of the Alaska Friendship Circle All-Inclusive Early Childhood Play Center, designed to bring children and families of all abilities together in a space of joy, connection, and community.
The All-Inclusive Early Childhood Play Center will be home to the first Alaska chapter of the globally recognized Friendship Circle program, dedicated to fostering meaningful relationships between children with special needs and their typically developing peers. Through shared experiences, mentorship, and structured friendship-building, this program nurtures social-emotional growth, empathy, and lifelong connection.
The indoor and outdoor play center will be open to the public and accessible to all families with young children, with a particular focus on inclusivity for young children with special needs. The space will be available to the community at no charge, ensuring equitable access for all.
The outdoor space (Phase 1), which broke ground at the beginning of the summer of 2025 and is nearing completion features vibrant and sensory-rich play areas, including performance stage and musical zones; fort-building, toddler playhouse, and turf hills; climbing walls, animal sculptures, sensory panels; and garden, LED lighting, ADA paths, restrooms, parent seating.
Phase 1 of this initiative was sponsored by grants from THREAD Alaska and the State of Alaska Child Care Program Office; The Municipality of Anchorage ACCEE (Anchorage Child Care & Early Education); and The Barney and Rachel Gottstein Charitable Foundation of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund. The outdoor play center was designed by Learning Landscapes Design of Portland, Oregon, is currently under construction by Bauer Construction of Alaska, and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2025.
The Alaska Jewish Campus is now launching a fundraiser for Phase 2, the building of the indoor inclusive play center. The new indoor play center will offer a cozy and dynamic space for arts, crafts, movement, reading and social programming—ensuring that Alaska’s winters and rainy days won’t limit the fun. Planned features include flexible activity zones for art, dance, and interactive play; a space for movement, tumbling, and activities; a nook for reading stories and enjoying books; ADA-compliant, child-friendly restrooms; a kitchen for hot coffee, snacks, programs, and family use; and storage for adaptive play equipment, winter coats, and boots.
The new Alaska Friendship Circle initiative is proudly supported by key community partners whose collaboration and expertise strengthen the long-term impact of this initiative. Core partners include: THREAD, Alaska’s leading child development resource center; Program for Infants and Children (PIC); Stone Soup Group; The Arc of Anchorage; and the Alaska Association on Developmental Disabilities—all of whom bring decades of experience supporting children and families with diverse needs. Additional collaborators include Special Olympics Alaska, which plans to host its Young Athletes Program at our site; Best Beginnings; Alaska Down Syndrome Network and Hearts & Hands of Care. The Anchorage Park Foundation’s Inclusive Play Work Group has invited us to join their meetings and offered to include our play center in their Anchorage Playground Maps & Inclusive Play Guide.
Phase 2 of this initiative is sponsored in part by generous grants from The Ellsworth Foundation; The Demain Family Foundation; M.E. Webber Foundation; and several other foundations and individual donors are now considering partnering in the creation of this most crucial institution for the Alaskan Community.
For children with disabilities, who already face challenges to inclusion, peer interaction, and support, this space will offer something vital: a place to connect, belong, and thrive. The Play Center will be a place where families can build community and have fun in an inclusive environment. We invite the Alaskan Community to join us in this mission. Together, we can make the Alaska Friendship Circle a lasting legacy of inclusion, play, and possibility for generations to come.
