West Virginia University’s new Child Learning Center will be a valuable tool for recruiting faculty, staff and students who are parents, and contribute to the overall quality of life on campus, WVU officials said during Friday’s (Sept. 25) celebration of the University’s new child care center and WVU Nursery School.

“Today we are celebrating the fulfillment of a promise to build a world-class campus child care center to serve WVU students and employees, and a new, larger home for the WVU Nursery School,” President James P. Clements said.

The 19,000-square-foot child care center opened Aug. 3, while the WVU Nursery School, a teaching laboratory for College of Human Resources and Education students, opened in its new facility earlier this month. Both are located next to Krepps Park.

Joined by current and former Nursery School children, their families, University and Hildebrandt Learning Centers officials Friday, Clements thanked former WVU President Mike Garrison, who initiated the construction of the Child Learning Center, and the WVU Council for Women’s Concerns for advocating for issues important to women, including child care.

In 2007, Garrison announced plans for a state-of-the-art child care facility with the aim of creating a more family-friendly campus.

“I appreciate (the WVU Council for Women’s Concerns) members’ dedication to helping women achieve their full potential at WVU and advocating for on-campus child care,” Clements said.

He also thanked Heather Garrison and Joe Fisher, associate vice president for facilities and services, for chairing the implementation team; Narvel Weese, vice president for administration and finance; Liz Reynolds, associate vice president for planning and treasury operations; and the Childcare Advisory Committee.

“This center will benefit all of us at WVU by making this community an even better home for our families,” said Clements, noting the Child Learning Center has enrolled more than 140 children.

The state-of-the-art center features include two classroom wings – arranged in different learning centers – and two playgrounds. Hildebrandt Learning Centers – a company that manages 38 employer-sponsored child-care centers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and now West Virginia – oversees operations. Director Diane Rudash, a graduate of WVU’s College of Human Resources and Education, has 20 years of experience in the child-care industry.

The WVU Nursery School, which serves 40 kids each year, was established in 1944 to provide observation and practicum experience for students pursuing degrees in areas working with children. About 700 WVU students gain real-world work experience through the Nursery School each year.

On Sept. 3, it opened in a 4,000-square-foot building, which includes areas for water and sand play, math and science, music and more.

Director Bobbie Warash, a professor of child development in the Department of Technology, Learning and Culture, said, “I want to acknowledge WVU’s commitment to the education of young children as well as its commitment to the future teachers of young children.

“As part of the College of Human Resources and Education, this state-of-the-art facility not only provides the opportunity for child development and early childhood students to practice teaching methods and conduct research in the field, but it will be used as a showcase for early childhood programs all around the state.”

-WVU-

CONTACT: Janey Cink, College of Human Resources and Education
304-293-0224, janey.cink@mail.wvu.edu

(MEDIA: WVU Child Learning Center and WVU Nursery School fact sheets are available online at http://wvutoday.wvu.edu/)