CEE began in 1939 when a group of professional psychoanalysts started a playgroup for their young children at a home in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, known as The School for Nursery Years. At a time when preschool education was in its infancy, the school's founders were passionate about respecting the inner world of the child and developing an early childhood education based on nurturing each child's natural developmental pace.

The Center for Early Education, a socio-economically and culturally diverse independent school for children, and toddlers through grade six, strives to graduate students who are joyful, resilient, lifelong learners. The Center embraces a philosophy of education that combines a nurturing, inclusive learning environment with an increasingly challenging academic program that addresses the developmental needs of each child.