The Jenny Waelder Hall Center for Children is a nonprofit organization created to support the social, emotional, physical, and cognitive development of young children. It began as an outreach initiative and received initial funding from the late Paul Mellon. It is presently supported by private foundations and donors.

The Center and the school are named for Dr. Jenny Waelder Hall, a psychiatrist who trained in Vienna before emigrating to the United States. Dr. Waelder Hall had a deep interest in child development and education and was instrumental in building a training program for those interested in furthering their knowledge of child and adolescent development.