Community fosters belonging, resiliency, stability, and strength. We are committed to creating a caring, trauma-informed, professional community at Clayton and we are committed to being a positive member of the many communities we partner with and serve.

Collaboration builds trust and relationships and brings new ideas, skills, and knowledge to help us do better work. We are committed to approaching our work as one team across Clayton. Collaboration means working across teams and departments and with our external partners.

A true sense of belonging means that everyone who enters the Clayton campus is valued for who they are and can meaningfully say “I belong here.”

Growth allows us to develop as professionals and to provide the best services we can to the children, families, and educators we serve. We are committed to growing as individuals and as an organization. Growth means we are continually learning how to do our individual and collective work better and we adapt and evolve our programs and practices to reflect new learning and to meet changing needs.

Stewardship enables us to have the greatest impact we can with the resources we have. We are committed to being good stewards of our community and our resources. Stewardship means using our financial resources wisely and responsibly so that we can sustain our work into the future, taking care of our unique and beautiful campus so it can remain a resource for our community, and caring for our community and team and treating each other with respect and responsibility.

Fun reduces stress, keeps us motivated, builds connections, and models for our children the joy that can come with learning and working together. We are committed to having fun! Fun means noticing and sharing things that bring us joy, being creative in our work, making connections with each other, and finding humor and hope in our work.