Licensed Daycares in North Highlands, CA

Daycare & Childcare in North Highlands

As of August 2026

Families in North Highlands searching for licensed child care will find 35 providers on the state roster, with family child care homes outnumbering centers: 24 homes to 11 centers, about 69 percent to 31 percent. Combined licensed capacity totals 847 slots, averaging 24 per site. California's Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD) licenses the full roster. CloverMap lists North Highlands' providers, including Joyce Preschool, for parents to compare.

What to know about childcare in North Highlands

North Highlands' 9 licensed providers lean toward family child care homes, with 24 homes against 11 centers, about 69 percent to 31 percent. That gives home-based care a clear edge in the local market, though centers still make up a meaningful share of the roster. Home-based providers in North Highlands are typically run by a single licensed caregiver out of a private residence, which tends to mean smaller group sizes, mixed-age groupings, and a caregiving style built around one consistent adult. Centers, a smaller share of North Highlands's roster, usually organize children into separate classrooms by age, with multiple staff members working across a facility built specifically for child care.

Combined licensed capacity across the 35 providers is 847 children, averaging 24 per site. That average is consistent with a roster that mixes smaller home-based programs and larger centers rather than skewing to an extreme. That capacity figure reflects the total number of children a provider is licensed to serve, not necessarily how many openings exist at any given moment, so North Highlands families should treat it as a ceiling on program size rather than a live vacancy count.

Age coverage is strong across North Highlands' roster: 25 providers serve infants, 25 serve toddlers, 34 serve preschool-age children, and 24 serve school-age children. Preschool coverage is nearly universal, with all but one provider serving that age group, while infant, toddler, and school-age care are each covered by a solid majority of the roster as well. Because staffing ratio requirements are generally tighter for younger children, it is common for fewer providers to serve infants than preschoolers; North Highlands families with an infant should expect a somewhat narrower initial search before more options open up as their child ages into the toddler and preschool ranges.

All 35 providers are licensed through the California Department of Social Services' Community Care Licensing Division (CCLD), which enforces the state's minimum requirements for staffing, health, and safety in both centers and family child care homes. A CCLD license is issued after a provider demonstrates it meets the state's baseline requirements, and the license type, center or family child care home, determines which set of operating rules applies. Centers and homes are licensed under separate frameworks, part of why their typical group sizes and staffing patterns differ so much across a roster like North Highlands's.

Given the home-based lean in North Highlands, parents may find more openings among the city's 24 family child care homes than its 11 centers, though both remain viable starting points. Joyce Preschool is one of the licensed providers on the roster, and CloverMap lists all 35 for comparison. Because a licensing roster reflects who is currently authorized to operate rather than who has space available today, calling ahead remains the most reliable way for North Highlands families to confirm real-time openings once they have narrowed down a shortlist.